Scottish Marine Recovery Fund: consultation

7. Interaction between the Scottish MRF and the UK Government MRF

The Scottish Government is committed to working in partnership with the UK Government and other devolved governments to implement, and maximise benefit from the opportunities of, the Energy Act 2023 – recognising that delivery of net zero and clean power is a shared strategic priority that is in the interest of all UK nations.

As set out in sections 3.2 and 5.1, the Scottish MRF will operate in parallel and in close alignment with the UK Government MRF, working to a set of agreed principles, and with developers able to apply to one or both MRFs depending on the location of the impacts of their project.

The Scottish Government is in dialogue with the UK Government and other devolved governments to agree suitable intergovernmental working arrangements for the two MRFs. This will allow ongoing engagement on shared interests and operational considerations which arise across the two funds, to support broad, general alignment, and to aid collaboration on future policy development.

We acknowledge the risk of multiple MRFs creating competition for access to compensatory measures across the UK, and for competition to potentially arise based on fee and costing structures. We also acknowledge the importance of both MRFs being aligned in terms of processes and expectations as far as possible.

We will work closely with UKG to minimise any potential competition risks and inconsistencies arising between MRFs.