Dept. Local Government
The Department of Local Government, Northern Ireland. The Department of Environment is organized into three business groups: namely, the Environment and Marine Group, dealing with environmental policy; the Environment Agency and Marine Division; the Planning Group dealing with Planning Policy, Strategic Planning, and Local Planning Division; and the Local Government, Road Safety, and Corporate Services Group dealing with Road Safety and Vehicle Registration Division, Driver and Vehicle Agency, Finance and Business Planning Division, Human Resource and Organizational Change Division, Local Government Policy Division 1, Local Government Policy Division 2.
The Road Safety & Vehicle Registration Division is responsible for promoting road safety, training, and educating road users, producing the Highway Code, and developing policy and legislation.
The Driver and Vehicle Agency was formed from the merger of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing, keeping records of persons entitled to drive in registers of vehicles in the Vehicle Testing Agency, which sought to promote road safety and vehicles.
The Agency operates from a number of regions, including 15 combined vehicle test and practical driving test centers, two standalone centers for driving tests, six theory test centers, two enforcement centers, 13 dynamic weighbridge facilities, and eight driver licensing, vehicle licensing offices, and a commercial licensing office.
The Driver and Vehicle Agency is an executive agency within the Department, which seeks to deliver improved road safety and better regulation of the transport system. There are three Directorates within the Agency: Operations, Business Transformation, and Governance and Compliance.
The DVA has processed driving licenses. It is proposed that this be dealt with by a national and UK agency.
The Road Safety and Vehicle Regulation Division delivers improved road safety and better regulation of transport. It focuses on: developing policy and legislation for the taxi, freight, and bus industries and for vehicle standards, regulation of the freight industry through the Transport Regulation Unit, developing driver policy and legislation, commissioning research, reviewing vehicle testing in Northern Ireland, road safety education, engaging with stakeholders, supporting the North-South Ministerial Council transport meetings.
The Taxis Act NI 2008 gives the partners the environment powers to modernize and improve regulation of the taxi industry. This includes powers to introduce new requirements for taxi fares, drivers, vehicles, and operators.
The Transport Regulation Unit licenses operators in the goods vehicle industry. It deals with freight, operator licenses. The Department deals with a multi-testing of vehicles. It applies to cars, motorcycles over four years old, light goods vehicles from three years old, trailers, large passenger carrying vehicles, and heavy goods vehicles from one year old, buses and taxis on an ongoing basis.
The Local Government Policy Division supports council by delivering effective local government. It is responsible for local government reform, in particular the ultimate reduction of councils in number from 26 to 11 as of 1 April 2015.
The Local Government Policy Division develops policy and legislation to facilitate the transition; provides a legislative and policy framework to allow councils to guide local public services by issuing Local Government Circulars in particular; performs Local Government Consultations on new policy and legislation; pays the Rates Support Grant and De-rating Grant to councils; develops methods to improve administration, finance, and audit of local government; oversees liaison with councils; oversees the Local Government Staff Commission and the Northern Ireland Local Government Officers’ Superannuation Committee; liaises with the Chief Local Government Auditor.
The Department seeks to secure a better and safer environment.
The Environment and Marine Group has three divisions. The Environmental Policy Group is responsible for formulating and developing environmental policy and legislation in Northern Ireland.
The Northern Ireland Environment Agency advises on and implements government environmental policy and strategy in Northern Ireland.
The Marine Environment Division advises on environmental policy and strategy within the Marine Environment.
The Environment and Marine Group promotes public awareness of environmental issues, terrestrial and marine, and action to deal with them; regulates adverse human impacts upon the environment on land and at sea; works in partnership with others to protect the environment on land and at sea; provides financial assistance to others to encourage action to protect the environment; manages properties to promote public access to and understanding of the environment; advises government and other key sectors on environmental issues.
The Department of Environment takes lead responsibility for climate change issues in Northern Ireland. The Climate Change Unit deals with the Department for Energy and Climate Change in the United Kingdom and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in England.
All departments have collective responsibility for achieving the target in reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 35% from the 1990 level by 2025.
The Local Environmental Issues Unit within the Environmental Policy Division works with various bodies to develop and implement a wide range of government policies in Northern Ireland. It includes noise, air and environmental quality, quarries and quarry safety, environmental liability, environmental justice, contaminated land, clean neighborhoods, dilapidation issues.
The Aggregates Levy Credit Agreement Scheme was suspended from 2010. The Department operates the Aggregates Levy Credit Agreement Scheme on behalf of HMRC. It was introduced UK-wide in 2002 and is an environmental tax on the commercial exploitation of aggregates. The purpose is to address the environmental costs dealt with by, arising from aggregates extraction not already covered by other regulations. The Levy is set at £2.00 per tonne.
The Air and Environmental Quality team within the Regulatory and Natural Resources Policy Division develops policy and legislation on air and environmental matters in compliance with domestic and international standards and statutes.
The Department regulates air pollution legislation, including the smoke control legislation and designation of Smoke Control Areas, and Smoke Control Areas’ residents are required to use authorized smokeless fuel or install an exempted fireplace.
The Air and Environmental Quality Unit develops policy and legislation relating to the control of chemicals and substances that are hazardous to the environment. There are Northern Ireland and UK-wide Regulations. There is also directly applicable EU legislation by way of Regulations.
The REACH Regulation is enforced in Northern Ireland through the Health and Safety Executive, District Councils, and the Northern Ireland Environmental Agency.
The F-gases Regulations are administered by the Department. They are based on EU-wide regulations with high greenhouse warming potential. Ozone-depleting layer substances comprise highly chlorinated, fluorinated, and brominated hydrocarbons used in certain products historically, including refrigerants, certain pesticides, pharmaceuticals. Regulations restrict and require strict use of — require record-keeping and their range of requirements in relation to ozone-depleting substances.
Local authorities must carry out their quality reviews and assessments of their local air quality. The Air and Environmental Quality team in the Department of Environment liaises with councils and publishes the requisite reviews. A number of Air Quality Management Areas have been declared due in part to the existence of high levels of nitrogen dioxide from vehicle exhaust machines.
Air quality monitoring, automatic and non-automatic, is carried out by the Department of Environment, Farming and Rural Affairs UK and local authorities.
The Health and Safety Executive has helped in the safety responsibility for operational quarries, and closure responsibility passes to the District Councils who deal with statutory nuisances. A worked or unworked quarry may be deemed a statutory nuisance if not provided with effective and properly maintained barriers so as to prevent persons from accidentally falling into quarries and by reason of accessibility from a highway constitutes a danger to members of the public.
The Clean Neighborhoods and Environment Act 2011 provides for a range of measures to improve the local environment. It gives district councils additional powers to deal with litter, fly-posting, graffiti, dogs, noise, statutory nuisance, nuisance alleyways, abandoned and nuisance vehicles, and abandoned shopping trolleys.
The Department is assessing the legislation dealing with dilapidated and dangerous buildings and neglected sites. The Contaminated Land Regime is comprised in the Waste and Contaminated Land (NI) Order 1997. Insofar as possible, the polluter is to pay the cost of remediation of land so that it is suitable for use. Part III of the order has not yet been commenced containing the principle providing for the contaminated land regime. A review was requested by the Public Accounts Committee, the failure to commence the legislation in 2012.
The High Hedges Act (NI) 2011 provides a basis for taking action against problematical high hedges. It is to assist persons adversely affected by high hedges bordering their domestic property. It refers to hedges more than two meters in height and affecting light reaching a neighborhood domestic property. It provides for a formal complaint system to be operated through local councils.
The Department administers legislation in relation to industrial pollution. The Pollution Prevention and Control regime provides an integrated framework. Certain activities must operate under a permit issued by the relevant regulator. Operators must use Best Available Techniques to control and manage the risk of pollutants from their facility.
The Air and Environmental Quality Unit is responsible for noise control legislation. This may arise in industrial, commercial, or domestic activity. Complaints may be addressed by the public to the Environmental Health Department of the relevant district council.
The Department has sought views on a draft Noise Policy Statement for Northern Ireland.
The Natural Environmental Unit within the Planning and Natural Resource Division works with various bodies, including the NI Environment Agency, to develop a wide range of government policies relating to the protection of the natural environment. Matters covered include Biodiversity, Habitats and Species, Integrated Coastal Zone Management, and National Parks.
The Department of Environment is responsible for waste legislation. The Waste Unit within the Environmental Policy Division works with various bodies. It deals with matters such as the Waste Management Strategy, Carrier Bag Levy, radioactivity, recycling programs, waste infrastructure, producer responsibility, landfill, waste, and contaminated land legislation.
The Department is responsible for the protection of the aquatic environment, the regulation of water quality, conservation of freshwater, marine flora, fauna, and hydrological processes. It must have regard to the needs of industry and agriculture, the protection of fisheries, and the protection of public health.
The Northern Ireland Environmental Agency is an independent body that undertakes a wide range of functions in the environmental area. It regulates and deals with licensing applications in relation to a wide range of environmental areas, including water discharge consents, sewage discharge; trade effluent and site drainage discharge consents; domestic discharge consents, application for Marine license; application for wildlife licenses, application for waste management licenses, application for pollution prevention and control permits; registration for producer responsibility purposes.
The Agency’s principal divisions comprise the Resource Efficiency Division, including the Water Management Unit, Waste Management Unit, Drinking Water Inspectorate, Environmental Crime Unit. The Historic Environment Division deals with Historic Buildings and Historic Monuments. The Natural Environment Division deals with Conservation Science, Conservation Designations and Protections, Countryside and Coast, Biodiversity, Landscape Architects.
The Innovation Strategies Division deals with Partnerships and Projects, Regional Operations, Regulatory Transformation, Industrial and Radiochemical Inspectorates, Health and Safety.
The Northern Ireland Planning Group consists of three divisions: Local Planning, Strategic Planning, Planning Policy.
The Planning Group is responsible for delivering operational planning functions, development and delivery of planning policy and legislation, and the reform and transfer of some functions to district councils.
The Planning Group is responsible for much work required for the transfer of many operational planning responsibilities to the new 11 councils. Certain functions will be retained within central government. New arrangements will be made between central government and local government on planning matters.
The Planning Group is responsible for the development of planning policy guidance and advice together with the legislation required to accelerate a number of forms, forms of the planning system.
The Local Planning Division has operational responsibility for planning functions that will transfer to councils. This includes development, management, including enforcement, development, planning, conservation, and tree preservation orders.
The Local Planning Division has local planning offices throughout the departments, including Belfast, Ballymena, Coleraine, Craigavon, Downpatrick, Enniskillen, Londonderry, Derry, and Omagh.
The Strategic Planning Division works for future economic development needs to ensure the benefits of economic investment and job creation are realized. It is responsible for processing planning applications from across the problems for large-scale investment proposals, including Article 31 applications. It provides advice and guidance on design policy and practice.
The Division has developed expertise in handling specialist planning proposals that could have significant effects on the environment. This includes renewable energy, energy from waste, waste disposal, recycling landfill, mineral extracts and major and structural processes, large scale connectors and power stations. The Division is also responsible for waste and minerals enforcement.
The Planning Policy Division’s purpose is to develop planning legislation and policy in line with ministerial directions. It is responsible for taking forward any reform and transfer project.
The Policy Division undertakes the review of planning policy in order to ensure a single strategic planning policy statement. Draft supplementary guidance, best practice guidance, development control advice notices, and other planning guidance. It brings forward planning bill and subordinate legislation to accelerate reforms.
Develops subordinate legislation following the 2011 Act. Brings forward the subordinate legislation to ensure compliance with EU requirements. Manages planning reform and transfer project. Manages review of planning fees and funding. Audits and reviews DOE planning policies.