Aquaculture Consenting Task Group - Advisory Group minutes: 28 November 2024

Attendees and apologies

Other organisations:

• Anne Anderson – Scottish Sea Farms (SSF)
• Dave Cockerill – Bakkafrost
• Douglas Hunter – Mowi
• Ben Johnson – Cooke Aquaculture Scotland
• Peter Pollard - Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
• Lucy Gregson - Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
• John Rosie -  Shetlands Islands Council
• Ryan Leask – Shetland Islands Council
• Professor Russell Griggs – Independent reviewer 
• Alexis Chatterton -  Highland Council
• Zoe Haywood -  Aquatera
• Jennifer Fox - Aquatera  

Scottish Government 

• Jill Barber - Head of Aquaculture Development (Chair)
• Wendy Geary - Policy Adviser
• Iain Laing - Improvement Adviser
• Alixann Ferguson – Policy Support Officer

Apologies

• Aleksander Jasinski - Aquaculture Planning Policy Support Officer
• Simon Pallant – Shetland Islands Council
• Mark Harvey – Highland Council
• Kieran McQuaid - Performance and Change Lead, Scottish Government
• Michael Montague - Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)

 

Secretariat provided by Scottish Government officials.

Items and actions

Introduction

Chair welcomed all and thanked those in attendance.

Pilot Status (reflection from developers/regulators)

The chair invited updates on the four pilot schemes that are currently underway.

Scottish Sea Farms(SSF) gave an update on their pilot site feeding back the following to the group:

• SSF had already committed to having a pre-application submitted in 2023, and started stage one in December 2023. They  were the first pilot  to begin the pre-application process, and had hoped to have this completed by June 2024. On reflection, that was overly optimistic and they feel taking more time to understand the process and timescales would have been beneficial before starting stage one.
• An initial meeting was held with key regulators, but there was no follow-up meeting with key regulators and statutory consultees in one place. There were some delays at the screening and scoping stages, and a view that had a follow-up meeting been held it could have prevented delays later in the process, especially in relation to Habitat Regulations Assessment and the Priority Marine Features List, and the need for surveys.
• The pilot is now at stage three and the EIR is underway in the final stages, they hope to have the formal application submitted before Christmas, and looking at Spring 2025 for a decision.
• As a direct result of lessons learned from the Fish Holm pilot, SSF recently had a multi-stakeholder meeting with statutory consultees, including Nature Scot for a new proposal and found it to work better and it has given them more confidence in the process going forward.

SEPA:

• The initial meeting with regulators and statutory consultees included in the pre-application process has not been possible  for any of the 4 pilots due to logistical challenges and conflicting availability of the stakeholders. They also reflected that there had been some confusion with the pre-app process as NatureScot indicated they would prefer to provide advice to stakeholders individually.  However, from a permitting process perspective, a single response from Nature.Scot covering all aspects of individual advice to each stakeholder to be included in their response could be accommodated.  That would need Nature.Scot to decide how they want to be included.
• The Chair noted that there are some practicalities to work through, and the pilots are a way testing and learning from the new processes.  It will be interesting to understand how the absence of the early meeting with statutory and regulatory bodies plays out in the pilots and there may be merit to revisit this if further delays arise.

Action : Scottish Government to seek clarification from NatureScot on their role and involvement in the pre application process. This comes from the aim to have a single voice approach from public bodies in the consenting process.

Bakkafrost provided an update on their pilot site:

• Still in stage one, and is the last of the four pilots to join the new process. 

• There needs to be a more centralised way to share the most up to date version of documents, as the documents are evolving with the pre-app process.
• Overall found the pilots to be slower paced than anticipated.  Their pre-application pilot has encountered some confusion and  as to the need for an Environmental Management Plan.
• They would wish to see an increase in pace overall.  The time taken for Bakkafrost to open their first new site in 11 years is an illustration of the slow pace of development in terms of the general processes overall, not just consenting. They feel that if the  general processes had been  more effective they may have had a determination sooner.
• They would also be interested to discuss parallel workstreams and a smoother mechanism for Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) processes and  for possible consolidation of sites.

Action : Scottish Government to explore methods of sharing up to date documentation, for example on gov.scot website.

MOWI then provided an update on their two pilot sites:

• Both sites are at stage two of the pilot process
• One pilot has just had community meetings on the Isle of Skye, including  wider stakeholder meetings, and meetings with fishermen. They will  pull together feedback and produce a report after the community meetings, and get the process started for the EIA.
• There is the issue on engagement and the need to consider how to best reach the target audiences to ensure all the voices are captured at this stage in the process.  Three halls had been booked and only 10 people attended, with discussions more on fish farming in general rather than about the specific location.   
• Pilot 2 has not yet started the wider stakeholder engagement, but MOWI intend to do so in the new year.  There was a discussion on generating sufficient community engagement.  It would be helpful to find a way to reach all fisheries organisations through this pre-application process.     
• The Chair invited any other comments on the experience of the pilots. SEPA agreed that they too would also like local knowledge captured. The other aquaculture businesses mirrored MOWI’s comments about stakeholder events and attendance as they have had similar experiences. 
• The Chair noted the need to consider the different interest groups that would want to engage and what that engagement should look like e.g. community, fishers, and other users.  There will be more work for the group to do in this space,  and the methods for Community Engagement will be explored throughout the streamlining process. An initial draft Community Engagement Guidance document has been developed to try to offer some further clarity on the engagement required in the pilots, and has been shared with the members of the Group for their consideration.

Presentation from Aquatera on their independent evaluation on the Pilot Schemes

• Aquatera gave a brief presentation on their progress with the independent evaluation of the pilots that they are carrying out on behalf of the Scottish Government.  Given the status of the pilots, it has been agreed to extend the timeline of end December 2024 to allow for the pilots to progress further in the pre-application process.  There are still interviews to carry out, data to be gathered, and a full analysis to be undertaken.  It is anticipated (with the caveats mentioned)  that the final report and presentation will be available to the Consenting Task Group (CTG) at the end of March 2025.

Scottish Government presentation and discussion

• The Chair gave a presentation on the achievements of the Consenting Task Group since  to date, reflecting on what has been delivered so far, the 3 key priorities that were agreed at the Scottish Aquaculture in June 2024 (roll out of pilots Scotland-wide; more targeted EIA/HRA and removal of duplication; a focus on onward application process) and on exploring the potential next steps for the CTG over the next year.  The Independent Evaluation is underway, and a key touch point for the CTG will be in February/March 2025 to review the next steps and set  new milestones.
• It is not possible to give a definitive end date of the pilots.  The Cabinet Secretary would like to see changes implemented by Spring 2026, with any that are considered to be working to be rolled out sooner,  rather than awaiting completion of all the application processes. 
• All 4 pre-application pilots will not likely be complete until summer 2025, and alongside this there is the need to develop a draft management framework on the EIA/HRA processes.  The developer sector have been pulling together some proposals to help with this work.  There could be the potential opportunity to test any new draft process for EIA/HRA in 2025 on any new pre-applications, or in the 3 existing pilots still undergoing pre-application.
• It was noted that the focus is on pre-application and EIA/HRA processes, but that some of the benefits of the pilots may not be shown until the formal application stage.  We may be in a position of formal application for the other 3 pilots at this time in 2025.
• The Consenting Task Group has been recognised as an important piece of work and has been included in the 2024 Programme for Government. There is a need for the Consenting Task Group-Advisory Group (CTG-AG) to now reflect on the documentation that has been developed and used in the pre-application pilots, to consider if more needs to be done, and to provide feedback.
• A number of questions were asked of the group relating to the development of a 2025 work plan. SG also outlined their intention to seek feedback on various documents and guidance.

Action:  Sector representatives to pull together their issues which might be addressed with pace under EIA and submit to Scottish Government by end of January 2025.

Action: CTG-AG to provide feedback on the issues raised by Scottish Government relating to the development of the 2025 work plan.

Action: Scottish Government will issue a single email with documentation and templates for members to review and provide feedback by the end of January 2025.

Close

The date of the next CTG-AG has yet to be confirmed.  The Chair thanked those in attendance.