Scottish Crown Estate strategic management plan - FSDIA not required: declaration

Fairer Scotland Duty Impact Assessment not required declaration : Scottish Crown Estate Strategic Management Plan

Rationale for decision

The first Strategic Management Plan (the Plan) for the Scottish Crown Estate is a high level document. It aims to guide, support and inform those who currently manage Scottish Crown Estate assets and future managers of the assets, as provided for in the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019. The Strategic Management Plan sets out the Scottish Ministers' key objectives, priorities and policies for the management of the Estate.

The Strategic Management Plan will provide a frameworkto ensure that managers maintain and enhance the capital value and revenue from the assets in a way that supports sustainable development, and economic development, regeneration, social and environmental well-being. More widely, to ensure that the Plan contributes to the successful delivery of Scottish Government policies and delivery of the National Performance Framework.

It will set out a vision and objectives for an integrated approach to managing the assets sustainably for the benefit of Scotland.

One of the Strategic Management Plan's primary objectives is to deliver sustainable and inclusive economic growth in the way in which the Estate is managed. It is not the sole purpose of the Plan to advance equality of opportunity.

However, it is appropriate that steps are taken to ensure that equality of opportunity is assessed during the implementation of the Strategic Management Plan. As such, where policies that are developed to implement the Plan relate to people, including the Crown Estate Scotland (Interim Management) workforce, users and future managers of the Scottish Crown Estate, these policies will need to be impact assessed.

Our assessment is that a Fairer Scotland Duty assessment should be carried out when a decision, relating to the transfer of delegation of management of individual assets, is made through the powers in the Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019. This will ensure that individual strategic decisions consider opportunities to improve outcomes for people experiencing social economic disadvantage.

The consultation includes a question asking if respondees agree with our view that the Strategic Management Plan does not require a Fairer Scotland Duty impact assessment at this stage.

We will review the requirement for a Fairer Scotland Duty assessment in light of the consultation results.

I confirm that the decision to not carry out a Fairer Scotland assessment has been authorised by:

Name and job title of Deputy Director (or equivalent)

Mike Palmer, Deputy Director

Marine Scotland: Aquaculture, Crown Estate, Recreational Fisheries, EMFF and Europe

Date authorisation given

22 August 2019