Sustainable Aquaculture Innovation Cluster (SAIC) business case: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Child Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment Template

1. Brief Summary

Type of proposal:

The type of the proposal is a decision of a strategic nature. The business case does not directly affect children or young people as it does not relate to service delivery, education, health, social care, or policies aimed at children or families.

Name the proposal, and describe its overall aims and intended purpose.

The purpose of the business case being assessed is to develop new arrangements that enable the long-term sustainment of aquaculture innovation support as has been delivered by the previous SAIC project, which was part of the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) innovation centres programme. The Scottish Government is working with the aquaculture sector, Crown Estate Scotland (CES), original SAIC and other partners including Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) and the University of Stirling (UoS) to develop proposals for long term support for aquaculture innovation, continuing to facilitate arrangements which help to maximise the productivity of Scotland’s marine resources. This includes consideration of governance arrangements, funding and key deliverables.

The plan for SAIC as an entity will be a non-regulatory enabling intervention designed to support Scottish aquaculture businesses to improve productivity through innovation. The entity will not introduce new statutory requirements, licensing conditions, reporting obligations or enforcement powers and participation is entirely voluntary.

Intended outcomes of establishing SAIC:

• Increase innovation across the aquaculture sector by funding suitable projects
• Improve productivity and operational efficiency by seeing innovation adopted into business practices

Start date of proposal’s development: December 2025

Start date of CRWIA process: January 2026

2. With reference given to the requirements of the UNCRC (Incorporation) (Scotland) Act 2024, which aspects of the proposal are relevant to/impact upon children’s rights?

The SAIC business case sets out the organisation’s strategic objectives, governance arrangements, financial planning and workforce priorities. It provides a high-level framework for business operations and organisational development.

The business case does not directly affect children or young people as it does not relate to service delivery, education, health, social care, or policies aimed at children or families.

Any potential impacts are indirect only, through broader organisational activity.

3. Please provide a summary of the evidence gathered which will be used toinform your decision-making and the content of the proposal

• Review of the content of the SAIC Business case
• Consideration of the new SAIC’s organisational role and functions
• Professional judgement based on the strategic and internal nature of the proposal

4. Further to the evidence described at ‘3’ have you identified any 'gaps' in evidence which may prevent determination of impact? If yes, please provide an explanation of how they will be addressed

Not applicable

5. Analysis of Evidence

Not applicable

6. What changes (if any) have been made to the proposal as a result of this assessment?

Not applicable