Environment and Rural Affairs Department
The main remit of the Analytical Services Division (ASD) within the Environment and Rural Affairs Department (ERAD) is to provide advice, interpretation, analyses and briefing on agricultural, fisheries, environmental, food and rural issues. The cross-cutting nature of these, especially rural, food and environmental issues, means that our remit extends beyond the immediate Portfolio, with contributions offered to policy colleagues and Ministers across the Executive.
Domestic vision statements presented in various policy documents present challenging aspirations that have to be viewed against a backdrop of national and international pressures, including reform of the Common Agricultural Policy, rulings from the World Trade Organisation and global concerns over (e.g.) climate change and sustainable development. Consequently, debates on the character and future of rural Scotland, and on how to achieve change in the presence of market and institutional imperfections are contested fiercely by various stakeholder groups. For example, farmers, fishermen, other rural businesses, environmentalists, taxpayers and consumers. The Division contributes to these debates by attempting to offer clarity of thought and an evidence base regarding the current situation and the tradeoffs involved in achieving change. This can involve highly technical research, either in-house or via management of external contractors, but equally may turn on the effective communication of simple, yet powerful, principles and theoretical or conceptual insights.
The Division produces a number of annual publications, including "Economic Report on Scottish Agriculture", "Farm Incomes in Scotland ", "Scottish Agriculture Output, Input and Income Statistics", "Agricultural Census Summary Sheets" and "Rural Scotland Key Facts". In addition, the Division provides information via the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) for inclusion in UK publications such as "Agriculture in the United Kingdom " and "Farm Incomes in the UK ". Beyond such statutory reporting duties, ad-hoc research reports are also published on a range of topics.