Scotland’s Environmental and Rural Services

What is SEARS?

Sears is a partnership of nine public bodies aiming to provide you, Scotland’s rural land managers, with an efficient and effective service by:

A streamlined service for rural land managers means a co-ordinated approach to contacting and visiting land managers:

More coordinated visits and inspections means that SEARS partners will talk to each other before visiting or inspecting your business to avoid duplicated effort and, if appropriate, arrange joint visits.

Fewer requests for information means that SEARS partners will share information you provide so that you don’t have to provide the same information twice.

One door any door means that you will have easy access to information and advice from SEARS partners by:

Provided the topic is covered by one of the SEARS partner organisations, you can speak to someone in any of the organisations and you will:

A consistent and responsive service means that:

SEARS will deliver a service focused on your needs by:

What are the changes?

Some inspections carried out previously by one of the SEARS partners may now be done by a different partner. The staff of these partner bodies have been trained and are authorised to carry out these inspections. Examples are:

When will this happen?

Where can I find out more?

Frequently Asked Questions

Have you carried out research with rural land owners?

Yes, we have conducted extensive research. The findings indicate broad support for the SEARS initiative from customers. These findings have been published.

What will SEARS save in terms of burden on land managers?

The new co-ordinated service mean around 2300 fewer visits a year as one organisation carries out inspections on behalf of another. A further 200 inspections a year will be carried out by two organisations simultaneously.

Who is in this new partnership?

There are nine public bodies involved:

When did all this start?

SEARS was launched on 20 June at the Royal Highland Show. Its implementation is very much a phased approach. Some work has already started, for example RPID staff have been trained by SEPA to carry out Groundwater Directive inspections, Silage, Slurry and Agricultural Fuel Oil (SSAFO) inspections, and Diffuse Pollution inspections on their behalf. These inspections will now be carried out as RPID staff undertake their own routine inspections.

How are you letting customers know about the new service?

We are providing public information on this web site. We have prepared a small information leaflet which will be enclosed with regular mailings from partner organisations. The 1700 customers affected by changes to groundwater inspections were informed directly in early June.

Is SEARS a precursor to any of the partner organisations merging?

The Scottish Government has made clear its intention to streamline processes and avoid confusion in the public sector. SEARS is not about merger but about reducing the burden on customers.

Why is this being done?

As public bodies, it is our intention to provide services to rural land managers which are streamlined, responsive and customer-focused.

What will these changes mean for rural land managers?

The one-door-any-door approach means that rural land managers can now use any of the partner organisations as route to any of the partners. Individuals can now make changes to basic information held about them online through the web portal, and notify any of the partner organisations with whom they deal. If customers would prefer to continue to deal with their usual local office and officer, they are welcome to do so.

Another benefit is greater co-ordination of visits and inspections. This means that SEARS partners will talk to each other before visiting or inspecting businesses to avoid duplicated effort and, if appropriate, arrange joint visits.

What guarantee is there that agencies will be able to carry out inspections to as high a standard as the traditional inspectors?

All staff who are carrying out inspections on behalf of other agencies have been trained and authorised to carry out the work.

What happens if an inspection carried out on behalf of another body identifies a problem?

The matter will be referred to the organisation responsible, for them to take follow-up action.

Why is this new service only available to rural land managers?

Rural land managers include crofters, foresters and not-for-profit estates. Along with farmers and other landowners, those groups represent the greatest area of common focus for the SEARS partners. Future phases of SEARS may consider if there are any other customer groups which might benefit from a similar approach.

Do data protection rules allow you to share data?

Yes, all SEARS data sharing is in accordance with the terms of the Data Protection Act.