Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)

European Directive 2001/42/EC [External link], known as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) Directive (transposed into UK law [External link] in July 2004), is a process to ensure that significant environmental effects arising from plans and programmes are identified, assessed, mitigated, communicated to decision-makers and monitored and that opportunities for public involvement are provided throughout the process.

Overview

SEA is a generic tool which can be used in a variety of situations and has become an important instrument to help to achieve sustainable development in public planning and policy making. The importance of SEA is widely recognised and particular benefits include:

• Supporting sustainable development;
• Improving the evidence base for strategic decisions;
• Facilitating and responding to consultation with stakeholders;
• Informing other processes such as Environmental Impact Assessments of individual development projects.

Since the Directive has been in force, a range of guidance documents have been prepared on the various topics that need to be covered by a SEA. The "Draft Guidance on Health in SEA" [External link] relates to the population's health and well-being. The guidance is relevant for SEAs that cover England (or England plus any other part of the UK) and has two main audiences:

• Health organisations including Strategic Health Authorities (SHAs), Primary Care Trusts (PCTs), the HPA and Public Health Observatories (PHOs); and
• Organisations responsible for preparing plans and programmes subject to the SEA Directive, known as Responsible Authorities (RAs).

The HPA's role

The HPA is not a statutory consultee to SEA consultations. Responsible Authorities may choose to approach the HPA for comments.