Scottish Marine Recovery Fund: consultation

2. About this consultation

This consultation seeks your views on proposals for establishing a Scottish MRF and how it would be operated and managed. Responses to this consultation will inform the design of the Scottish MRF and the relevant UK legislation which will be required to establish the Scottish MRF.

This consultation will cover:

• the role of the Scottish MRF Operator
• the proposed process for developers seeking to apply to the Scottish MRF
• the interaction between the Scottish MRF and UK Government MRF, and how cross-border project impacts will be addressed
• the proposed fee and costs structure for the Scottish MRF
• the proposed scope of the guidance for the Scottish MRF

This consultation is not intended to seek views on the following:

• the Scottish Government’s strategic compensation policy for offshore wind, which is being consulted on until 2 September 2025 and is accessible here (see section 5.3).
• the specific compensatory measures which could be made available for use by applicants through a Scottish MRF or what these measures could cost (see section 5.3).
• the operation of the UK Government MRF which is being established for England, Wales and Northern Ireland. The consultation on the UK Government MRF has now closed.

A Partial Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA) has been completed to assess the potential impacts of a Scottish MRF and is also being consulted on.

This consultation will be open for a six-week period. The need for a shortened consultation period is to ensure that the views shared on these proposals can inform the relevant UK legislation which will be required to establish the Scottish MRF.

We published interim guidance on the Scottish MRF for offshore wind developers on 8 July. Final guidance on all aspects of the draft policy will be developed following this consultation. We currently aim to open the Scottish MRF in winter 2025/26, subject to completion of all required policy work and the relevant legislation to establish the Scottish MRF being passed by the UK Parliament

Full details of how to respond to this consultation are provided at the end of this document. Responses can be submitted through the online survey, or by posting or emailing the completed respondent information form (Annex 2) and questionnaire (Annex 3) to the addresses provided.