Cost of parliamentary debates and independent reviews into Aquaculture in Scotland: FOI release

Information requested

Since 2016 there have 2 parliamentary debates and 2 reviews into aquaculture in Scotland as outlined here: The regulatory landscape is contentious, made clear during the 2017 and 2018 Parliamentary fish farming debates. The impetus for change goes back many years and there are a number of reports highlighting the need for improved efficiency and regulatory change; most notably the 2016 Independent Review of Scottish Aquaculture Consenting and the latest being the Salmon Interactions Working Group report of 2020, to which I am currently considering the Scottish Government response. Please you let me know what the cost of each of these has been.

Response

I am providing the information you have requested below. This information relates to the costs associated with the following:

a) The Independent Review of Scottish Aquaculture Consenting jointly commissioned by Marine Scotland and The Crown Estate to consider the aquaculture consenting regime in Scotland. The review was undertaken by Poseidon Aquatic Resource Management Ltd in association with Ironside Farrar Environmental Consultants and the report was published in July 2016. The Scottish Government response to the recommendations of the independent review of Scottish aquaculture consenting was published in January 2017.

• Independent Review of Scottish Aquaculture Consenting: £34,943.13
• Publication of Report of Independent review of Scottish Aquaculture Consenting (July 2016): £945.77
• Publication of Scottish Government response to the Independent review of Scottish Aquaculture Consenting (January 2017): £281.52

b) The Salmon Interactions Working Group (SIWG) that was established in 2018 to provide advice on the interactions between wild and farmed salmon and to consider the conclusions from two Scottish Parliament Fish Farming Inquiries (“Salmon Farming in Scotland” and “Environmental impacts of salmon farming”). The SIWG Report, published in May 2020, contains over 40 recommendations on a future approach for managing interactions between wild and farmed salmon in Scotland. The Scottish Government response to the SIWG Report was published in October 2021.

• Remuneration/expenses paid to John Goodlad as Chair of the Salmon Interactions Working Group during the period 2018-2020:  £26,132.20
• Publication of Salmon Interactions Working Group Report (May 2020): £288.78
• Publication of Scottish Government response to the Salmon Interactions Working Group Report (October 2021): (cost estimate) £444.96

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance the Scottish Government does not have some of the information you have requested. The reason for this is that, in line with usual practice, details of individual tasks carried out by civil servants and Scottish Government Ministers, including the number of hours spent on them, are not recorded because there is no business need to do this.

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