Aquaculture: Consenting Task Group minutes - 24 October 2023

Attendees and apologies

Other Organisation

• Professor Dickon Howell, Howell Marine Consulting (Chair)
• Alex Adrian, Crown Estate Scotland (CES)
• Michael Montague, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA)
• Professor Russel Griggs, Independent
• John Webster, British Trout Association
• Oliver Robinson, British Trout Association
• Dave Cockerill, Bakkafrost
• Douglas Hunter, Mowi
• Simon Pallant, Shetland Islands Council
• Iain McDiarmid, Heads of Planning Representative, Shetland Islands Council
• Anne Anderson, Scottish Sea Farms
• Alan Wells, Fisheries Management Scotland
• Nick Slater, Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA)
• Karl Davies, Northern Lighthouse Board
• Liam Wright, Nature Scot
• Lucy Gregson, SEPA

Scottish Government

• Jill Barber, Head of Aquaculture Development
• Bill Ellis, Head of Aquaculture Consenting
• Jamie Barnes, Aquaculture Planning and Consenting Policy Manager
• Aleksander Jasinski, Aquaculture Planning Policy Support Officer
• Ruairidh Anderson, Senior Policy Manager, Planning
• Zoe Crutchfield, Marine Scotland Licensing Operations Team Head
• Charles Allan, Fish Health Inspectorate Group Leader
• Iain Laing, Improvement Adviser
• Anna Donald, Technical Manager
• Anne Aitken, Deputy Director, Environmental Quality and Resilience
• Wendy Geary, Policy Adviser, Aquaculture.

Apologies

• Malcolm Pentland, Deputy Director, Marine Economy and Communities, Scottish Government
• Lorraine Gormley, Water Environment Team Leader, Scottish Government
• Mark Harvey, Highland Council
• Peter Pollard, SEPA
• Laura Tulip, Mowi
• Anni Makela, Marine Licensing Group Leader, Scottish Government
• Kieran McQuaid, Performance and Change Lead, Scottish Government

Secretariat provided by Scottish Government officials.

Items and actions

Actions Agreed 

Scottish Government (SG) officials to contact the MCA to arrange a meeting to update them on the Consenting Task Group (CTG) and to receive an update on their draft Marine Guidance Note (MGN 687 (M+F)). Professor Russel Griggs to be invited to attend.
CTG members to submit any further comments on the supporting papers by 31 October, to allow for a CTG update to be presented to the Scottish Aquaculture Council on 16 November.
SG officials to meet with relevant CTG members and key stakeholders to progress the development of information sharing agreements by the end of the year.
SG officials to start work on procurement for evaluation, and share draft tender with the CTG.

Welcome, Introductions, and Apologies

Introductions were made by the Chair and Scottish Government officials, and apologies noted.  

Minutes and matters arising from CTG-02

No comments were received.  

Draft Consenting Pilot Process

Scottish Government officials discussed the draft consenting pilot process flowchart stages.

The Chair stressed that the draft pilots will be an iterative process.

Fisheries Management Scotland requested that one pilot location should have a District Salmon Fishery Board (DSFB) in it and queried when the pilots would start. 

Maritime and Coastguard Agency requested a separate update on the work of the CTG and to provide Scottish Government officials with an update on their work. It was noted that there could be crossovers.

Action: SG officials to contact the MCA to arrange a meeting to update them on the Consenting Task Group and to receive an update on their draft Marine Guidance Note (MGN 687 (M+F)). Professor Russel Griggs to be invited to attend.

Northern Lighthouse Board noted that seaweed farms are not considered under the Town and Country Planning (Scotland) Act 1997 and asked how the work of the CTG would interact with applications for seaweed development. 

Scottish Government officials confirmed that the current focus of the CTG is on fish farming and noted that the marine licensing regime is applicable to seaweed farming.  

Action: CTG members to submit any further comments on the supporting papers by 31 October, to allow for a CTG update to be presented to the Scottish Aquaculture Council on 16 November.

Next Steps

Crown Estate Scotland asked what was the definition of  success for the pilots.  The Chair noted that any evaluation framework would run alongside the pilots and would be agreed by the CTG. 

Scottish Government officials also noted that the CTG Advisory Group will meet regularly to develop the draft framework , and overall evaluation will inform how the CTG work moves forward following the pilots. 

Scottish Government officials set out proposed information sharing agreements that could be either simple – covering voluntary pre-application information for regulators and statutory consultees, or detailed – covering formal agreement between SEPA and local authorities.

Action: SG officials to meet with relevant CTG members and key stakeholders to progress the development of information sharing agreements by the end of the year.

Professor Griggs noted that the Scottish Government’s Regulatory Review Group has been re-formed. 

Given that pre-application is non statutory there was a question about when does any information go into the public domain. Stage 2 of the process notes that SEPA will publish information, which would then support the public/community consultation stage of the process.

There was discussion about the timescale for the  evaluation process.

Action: SG officials to start work on procurement for evaluation, and share draft tender with the CTG.

Any Other Business

No Comments.

Next Meeting

Not Applicable