Marine and coastal restoration plan: business and regulatory impact assessment

Section 2: Engagement and information gathering

Engagement approach

Development of the plan to date has been supported by a cross-sectoral stakeholder advisory group (a list of organisations represented on the advisory group is included at Annex A). An introductory information session was held with stakeholders in December 2024, followed by a series of workshops with the advisory group in February and March 2025, which aimed to generate and prioritise potential actions for inclusion in the draft plan for consultation. Workshop attendees were asked to consider a range of factors in relation to proposed actions, including resource requirements, delivery mechanism, and timescales. It should be noted that given the cross-sectoral nature of the advisory group, the group was not asked to reach consensus on a list of actions for inclusion.

Formal consultation on the draft plan provided an opportunity to engage with a wider audience, including at a more local level and at a membership level for representative organisations involved in the stakeholder advisory group.

Internal SG engagement/engagement with wider Public Sector

Within Scottish Government

Discussions have taken place with a number of policy areas across Scottish Government including marine planning, offshore wind, marine conservation, marine licensing, marine science and analysts, aquaculture, fisheries, and terrestrial biodiversity. Policy areas provided input on the scope of the plan, helped identify priorities for the themes proposed, and highlighted any alignment across work areas.

UK/ Devolved Administrations

Natural England, Environment Agency and Historic England been engaged as statutory consultees on a Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) for the plan. We have also engaged with the Crown Estate in relation to their Whole of Seabed Programme, which maps areas of opportunity across English, Welsh, and Northern Irish waters for a range of sectors.

Wider Public Sector

NatureScot are a key delivery partner in developing the plan, and a statutory consultee in relation to the SEA. Crown Estate Scotland were engaged as part of the stakeholder advisory group. Local Authorities whose boundaries include coastline were invited to take part in the stakeholder advisory group and also attended a number of the drop-in events during the consultation period. Also invited to participate were COSLA, Heads of Planning Scotland, Scottish Enterprise, South of Scotland Enterprise, Highlands and Islands Enterprise, Crown Estate Scotland, JNCC, NatureScot, SEPA, and Scottish Ports Group. A list of public bodies who attended the workshops can be found in Annex A.

International

Not relevant for this BRIA.

Business / Third Sector engagement

The stakeholder advisory group membership included representatives from the fishing sector, aquaculture sector, local coastal partnerships, environmental non-government organisations (eNGOs), environmental funders, the scientific community, and restoration projects. A total of forty-one groups representing these sectors attended the advisory group workshops over the eight sessions, a full list of attendees can be found in annex A.

Public consultation

A partial BRIA accompanied the formal public consultation on the draft plan, including the proposed package of objectives and underpinning actions. The consultation was available online and ran alongside a series of in-person events held at locations around Scotland, maximising community-level engagement. Events were attended by a range of stakeholders and sectors, including Local Authorities, representatives from marine sectors (including renewable energy, fisheries and aquaculture).

The consultation asked respondents “Do you think that the partial BRIA is an accurate representation of the potential costs, benefits and risks on the public, private or third sector, and regulators, associated with the objectives and actions proposed in this draft plan?”.

Among those answering the closed-question part of the consultation addressing the BRIA, 43% agreed the partial BRIA is an accurate representation of the impacts associated with the objectives and actions proposed in this draft plan, 15% did not, 48% were unsure, and 8% selected ‘other’. This reflects the fact that the impact of some of the actions most likely to affect marine sectors like fishing – the protection mechanism in particular – cannot be fully assessed until we know how such a mechanism would work and where it could be applied.

A quarter of respondents left a comment about the BRIA. A small number commented positively on the partial BRIA, highlighting its value in capturing the potential benefits of the draft plan. In contrast, a few respondents noted a range of concerns about the partial BRIA. There was little consistency within these mostly singular comments, and we have addressed or incorporated the suggestions where possible when refining the BRIA.