Queen of Sweden Historic Marine Protected Area - designation proposal: final business and regulatory impact assessment – 18 July 2025

Introduction

The Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 (‘The 2010 Act’) includes powers to conserve Scotland’s outstanding marine natural and cultural heritage through a single system of Marine Protected Areas (‘MPAs’), with Historic MPAs used to protect ‘marine historic assets’ of national importance. This final BRIA relates to the proposal to designate the Queen of Sweden wreck as a Historic MPA, following public consultation in 2019 and further stakeholder engagement in 2024.

Due to the impacts of COVID-19, work to progress the proposal was paused ahead of a Ministerial decision being made and a Scottish Government response to the consultation being published. In 2024, work on the proposal was resumed and this final BRIA was prepared using the current template. In the main, this updated version reflects that of 2019, although where required, adjustments to costs and figures have been made and the benefits section has been slightly expanded.