Consultation Report on the Draft Scottish Marine REGIONS ORDER 2013

2. CONSULTATION

The Marine (Scotland) Act does not require that Scottish Marine Regions are created or that regional marine plans are produced, however Scottish Ministers see the value in identifying marine regions and producing regional marine plans around the Scottish Coast.

Marine Scotland had previously consulted on the general principle of creating SMRs for regional marine planning, the seaward boundaries and the approaches to identifying the Scottish Marine Regions. The results of that consultation concluded that there was strong support for the creation of SMRs, and the preferred option was based on physical characteristics with modifications to ensure marine regions were not too large on the west and east coast. This option would create 11 marine regions.

The draft Scottish Marine Regions Order 2013 delivered this option, and a written consultation on the draft order was published on the Scottish Government website on 6 December 2012 and closed on 28 February 2013. ^[2]

It was known that the majority of people and organisations would access the document electronically, but hard copies were available for those who requested them. Key stakeholders with a known interest in the issue were also contacted by e-mail to alert them to the consultation. These include those that had responded to the first consultation on SMRs, those that responded to Pre-consultation Draft National Marine Plan, Scottish Government core recipients and members of the Marine Strategy Forum. A list of those alerted to the consultation can be found at Annex A.

The consultation invited respondents to provide their views on the proposals in The Scottish Marine Regions Order 2013, and particularly sought comments on: the Order as drafted; the co-ordinates establishing the marine region boundaries; the names of the regions suggested; and the illustrative map.

The consultation asked 4 questions:

Question 1: Do you agree with the proposals set out in the draft Scottish Marine Regions Order 2013?

Question 2: Do you have any further comments? In particular we are seeking views on

• the drafting of the Order
• the co-ordinates establishing the marine region boundaries
• the boundaries
• the names of the regions suggested; and
• the illustrative map

Question 3: Do you believe that the creation of Scottish Marine Regions discriminates disproportionately between persons defined by age, disability, sexual orientation, gender, race and religion and belief?

Question 4: If you answered yes to question 3 in what way do you believe that the creation of Scottish Marine Regions is discriminatory?