Proposal to designate Red Rocks and Longay as a Marine Protected Area: consultation analysis
Analysis of responses to our consultation on the proposal to designate Red Rocks and Longay as a Marine Protected Area which ran from 1 February 2022 to 26 April 2022.
Annex 4: Views on the consultation process
The online consultation questionnaire included two questions seeking views on the consultation process:
Question Evaluation Question 1: How satisfied were you with this consultation? [Very satisfied / Quite satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Quite dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied] Please enter comments here.
Question Evaluation Question 2: How would you rate your satisfaction with using this platform (Citizen Space) to respond to this consultation? [Very satisfied / Quite satisfied / Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied / Quite dissatisfied / Very dissatisfied] Please enter comments here.
This annex provides a brief overview of the responses to these questions. The responses to each of the closed questions are presented in tables which show overall satisfaction levels with the consultation and the online consultation platform.
Twelve respondents – 9 individuals and 3 organisations – provided comments at either or both of EQ1 and EQ2. Relevant comments are summarised briefly after each table.
The section also draws on comments provided on the consultation process at individual consultation questions.
Satisfaction with the consultation process (EQ1)
Table A4.1 shows that over three-quarters of respondents (40 out of 51) were satisfied with the consultation (13 were quite satisfied, while 27 were very satisfied). However, individuals were more likely to be satisfied than organisations (31 out of 38 compared to 9 out of 13), and notably more likely to be very satisfied (22 out of 38 compared to 5 out of 13).
| Respondent type | Very dissatisfied | Quite dissatisfied | Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | Quite satisfied | Very satisfied | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | |
| Organisations | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 4 (31%) | 4 (31%) | 5 (38%) | 13 (100% |
| Individuals | 2 (5%) | 1 (3%) | 4 (11%) | 9 (24%) | 22 (58%) | 38 (100%) |
| All respondents | 2 (4%) | 1 (2%) | 8 (16%) | 13 (25%) | 27 (53%) | 51 (100%) |
Most of the respondents who commented on the consultation as a whole offered positive views. Individuals who commented positively said that they:
- Welcomed the opportunity to give their views on an issue that was important to them
- Commended the information accompanying the consultation, and thought that the consultation had been comprehensive in its approach to considering different interests (community, conservation, business).
Organisations that offered positive comments highlighted the pre-consultation communication with Marine Scotland and the opportunity to find out more about MPA designation. (It should, however, be noted that in answering individual consultation questions, other respondents had been critical of the level of pre-consultation engagement, which they thought had been inadequate.)
Two respondents expressed two different concerns about the consultation:
- One individual was concerned that the proposals being consulted on did not reflect the advice provided to Marine Scotland by NatureScot. This reflected comments made by some respondents in response to individual consultation questions.
- One organisation said that their satisfaction with the consultation would depend on the account taken of the responses – they felt that other recent consultations in this policy area had listened to the views of some sectors more than others.
Satisfaction with the online platform (Citizen Space) (EQ2)
Table A4.2 shows high levels of satisfaction with the online consultation platform among both organisations and individuals. Nine out of ten respondents overall (45 out of 49 respondents) were satisfied with their use of the online platform to respond to the consultation. Individuals were somewhat more likely to be very satisfied than organisations.
| Respondent type | Very dissatisfied | Quite dissatisfied | Neither satisfied nor dissatisfied | Quite satisfied | Very satisfied | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | Number (Percent) | |
| Organisations | 0 (0%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (8%) | 6 (46%) | 6 (46%) | 13 (100%) |
| Individuals | 1 (3%) | 0 (0%) | 2 (6%) | 12 (33%) | 21 (58%) | 36 (100%) |
| All respondents | 1 (2%) | 0 (0%) | 3 (6%) | 18 (37%) | 27 (55%) | 49 (100%) |
Comments on using the online consultation platform were largely positive, with respondents saying, for example, that they had found the process 'simple' or that it had been 'easy to respond'. Respondents also commented positively on the information provided on the consultation page on the platform. However, one respondent who said that they were familiar with the platform said that a new user may have difficulty navigating the site or be put off by the volume of text presented.
Two respondents made technical points relating to possible improvements, suggesting that:
- The site should allow the use of italic and bold text, and the inclusion of hyperlinks to other web resources.
- The 'more information' link at individual questions should open a new window.
Additional, one respondent expressed concern about the possible use of Google analytics on the platform.
Contact
Email: marine_biodiversity@gov.scot
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