Scapa Flow Proposed Historic Marine Protected Area (MPA) Partial Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)

3. Step Three – Consultation

3.1 Who do you need to consult with?

Extensive engagement with a full range of stakeholders has been undertaken throughout the development of these proposals. Stakeholders engaged include Orkney Islands Council, Orkney Fisheries Association, Orkney Sustainable Fisheries Ltd, the agent of the owner of four scheduled wrecks of the German High Seas Fleet, dive boat operators, and local residents.

3.2 How will you carry out your consultation and in what timescales?

3.2.1 Pre-consultation engagement

HES began considering the proposal for an Historic MPA at Scapa Flow in 2012 and exploratory meetings were held in Orkney with a wide range of stakeholders during 2013. Following their ‘What’s Your Heritage’ project, which showed that communities wanted to be more involved in designation decisions, HES decided to undertake a programme of public engagement about Scapa Flow before progressing the proposal any further. This began in December 2017 and aimed to explore what the marine heritage of Scapa Flow meant to the Orkney community and visitors from further afield. An online survey received 450 responses, with 17 people attending in person drop-in events on Orkney and HES holding meetings with five organisations.

3.2.2 HES consultation

HES undertook a public consultation on behalf of Scottish Ministers between 20 February and 17 April 2019. All parties with a potential interest in the proposal to designate Scapa Flow as an Historic MPA, including the owner of the wrecks, the local authority, business, community groups and others, were invited to comment. Following the consultation, HES continued discussing the proposals with Orkney Islands Council, the Orkney Fisheries Association, and the agent of the owner of the scheduled wrecks. This led to updates being made to the designation proposals.

3.2.3 Scottish Government consultation

The Scottish Government held a 4-week consultation on these updated proposals between 30 October and 17 November 2019. Work on further progressing these proposals was paused due to resource reprioritisation brought about by Covid-19.

3.2.4 Post-consultation engagement

Work resumed on the proposals in late 2023. Given the period of time that had passed since the formal consultation Scottish Government officials reached out to those who had previously provided responses to see if their views had changed. Additional stakeholders were contacted who had not responded to the consultation but who it was felt may have an interest, primarily dive boat operators.

Online meetings have been held with officials from Orkney Islands Council and the agent of the owner of the scheduled wrecks. Additionally, Scottish Government and HES officials gave an in-person presentation at a seminar for Elected Members of the Orkney Islands Council on 5 September 2024.

Scottish Government officials have also engaged with Orkney Fisheries Association and re-emphasised the advice from HES that no specific additional fisheries management measures would be required if the site was designated as an Historic MPA. (See section 4.1 for more detail on commercial fisheries.)

Engagement has shown that there is a high degree of support for the proposed Scapa Flow Historic MPA.

3.3 What questions will you ask when considering how to address island realities?

The formal Scottish Government consultation from 2019 asked respondents whether they supported the designation of Scapa Flow as an Historic MPA; whether they had any comments on the draft Designation Order; and whether they had any comments on the advice and consultation reports from HES. A BRIA was included as part of the consultation package which outlined potential socio-economic impacts. It should be noted that the formal consultation was carried out before the requirement to conduct an ICIA came into force in December 2020. This means that it did not include a draft ICIA or ask any questions specifically relating to particular impacts on island communities.

3.4 What information has already been gathered through consultations and what concerns have been raised previously by island communities?

The engagement and consultation conducted so far has demonstrated a significant degree of support in Orkney for the Scapa Flow proposals. The HES consultation in early 2019 showed that 78% of respondents said they either ‘highly agree’ or ‘agree’ with the proposals. Of the 14 respondents to the Scottish Government consultation who specifically answered the question “Do you support the designation of Scapa Flow as a Historic MPA?”, nine were in support and only one was opposed.

As mentioned in section 2.4, during the initial HES consultation Orkney Islands Council expressed concerns about the boundaries of the proposed Historic MPA overlapping with the Churchill Barriers but these have since been addressed by redrawing the proposed boundaries.

3.5 Is your consultation robust and meaningful and sufficient to comply with the Section 7 duty?

There has been extensive engagement with stakeholders throughout the development of these proposals, which have been amended to take into account feedback received. We are confident that consultation in relation to these proposals has been both robust and meaningful, particularly given that no significant adverse impacts have been identified.