National Marine Plan 2: stakeholder engagement strategy and statement of public participation

Annex A

Statement of Public Participation (SPP)

The key aim of this SPP is to set out how and when we will engage people in the preparation of Scotland’s new National Marine Plan (NMP2), indicate the associated timeframe for the development of NMP2 and invite comment as to the matters to be included in NMP2.

3.4.1 Background

This SPP sets out how and when we will engage with stakeholders during the preparation of the updated NMP2. The SPP will be kept under review by Scottish Ministers throughout the development process and amended as necessary to address key issues and feedback and as such has been updated to reflect the delivery timeline for NMP2.

This SPP has been prepared in accordance with Schedule 6 to the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) and Schedule 1 to the Marine (Scotland) Act 2010 (“the 2010 Act”).

The SPP provides a statement of the policies settled by the Scottish Ministers for or in connection with the involvement of interested persons in the preparation of the proposed NMP2. This SPP should also be read in correlation with the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy prepared to support the development of NMP2.

The publication of the SPP in October 2022 formally commenced the marine planning process.

3.4.2 Stakeholders we will engage with during the planning process

Marine plans guide decision-making in our marine regions and are therefore important resources for everyone who uses, relies on, or has an interest in the marine environment and plan area. Marine plans are also important tools for those who make regulatory or development decisions that affect the marine environment and marine space.

Marine Directorate is committed to engaging with representatives from a wide range of interest groups. We hope to engage with stakeholders in the following groups, representing various interests:

Table 2: Stakeholder groups and interests we will engage during the national marine planning process.

Stakeholder groups

• Other Scottish Government Directorates and teams
• UK Government and other Devolved Administrations
• Non-UK bordering nations and administrations
• Public bodies
• Marine Planning Partnerships and Local Coastal Partnerships
• Representative bodies and charities
• Private sector
• Academic and research institutions
• Other local community groups (e.g. youth)
• Members of the general public
• Underrepresented groups

Stakeholder interests

• Aquaculture (finfish, shellfish)
• Coastal change, flood, and coastal erosion risk management
• Community development
• Defence and national security
• Ecology and biodiversity
• Emerging marine industries
• Energy production
• Fisheries
• Gas and electricity interconnectors and cable
• Historic environment
• Hydrogen and carbon capture and storage (CCUS)
• Infrastructure development
• Marine aggregates
• Marine conservation and protection
• Marine dredging and disposal
• Navigation and safety
• Ports and shipping
• Rural and island communities
• Seascape and landscape
• Seaweed harvesting and cultivation
• Telecommunications
• Tourism and recreation

Methods of engagement

We are committed to carrying out engagement with stakeholders that is inclusive, targeted, and transparent. We realise that not all stakeholders will have the resources or interest to participate in each stage of plan development. For this reason, we plan to provide a mix of active engagement opportunities – through collaboration and formal consultation – and regular communication and updates to keep stakeholders informed of the process.

The engagement matrix outlines the extent of stakeholder engagement we intend to undertake with each broad stakeholder group at each stage of the planning process.

The colours/coding indicate the minimum level of engagement we commit to for each main stakeholder group.

As discussed in Section 3 of the Stakeholder Engagement Strategy, we will use a range of methods to engage and communicate with stakeholders at each stage of the planning process to achieve our intended outcomes. These will include, but are not limited to:

• Face-to-face, hybrid and online workshops, webinars, meetings, and events
• The Scottish Government’s online consultation hub – Citizen Space
• Publication of information and data online at gov.scot
• Direct postal and email communication
• Social media, via the Scottish Government’s social media channels
• NMP2 newsletter

New points of Stakeholder Engagement within the NMP2 development timeline

Vision and Objective Setting

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: High-Level Objective setting, Policy drafting/development.

Estimated Timing

Spring 2024

Planned Engagement Activities

• Socialise wording of HLOs and collate policy ideas under each theme through internal/external targeted workshops and meetings

Stage of Plan Preparation

Strategic Appraisal of NMP (2015) and Refining Scope of NMP2

Estimated Timing

Strategic Appraisal of NMP (2015) and Refining Scope of NMP2

Planned Engagement Activities

Strategic Appraisal of NMP (2015) and Refining Scope of NMP2

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Assessing NMP (2015) as well as other recent strategies and policies impacting marine industries, resources, and the environment, against the new objectives to refine the scope of NMP2, in consultation with stakeholders.

Estimated Timing

Spring 2024

Planned Engagement Activities

• Workshops and targeted engagement with internal teams across functions
• Workshops and targeted engagement with consultation authorities and MPPs

Assessments

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Sustainability Appraisal and other assessments comprising:

• Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA)
• Habitats Regulations Appraisal (HRA)
• Island Communities Impact Assessment (ICIA)
• Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA)
• Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA)
• Fairer Scotland Duty Assessment (FDSA)
• Business and Regulatory Impact Assessment (BRIA)

Estimated Timing

Spring -Summer 2024

Planned Engagement Activities

• Workshops and detailed discussions
• Targeted engagement with internal teams across functions
• Targeted engagement with key stakeholders
• Targeted engagement with consultants
• Public and Statutory consultation on the SEA Scoping Report
• Publication Consultation Analysis Report

Policy Framework Development

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Reviewing and developing the plan policy framework, in line with the new objectives and informed by the Strategic Appraisal and statutory assessments.

Estimated Timing

Spring -Summer 2024

Planned Engagement Activities

• Workshops and targeted engagement to develop draft policies with internal and external stakeholders

Monitoring and Evaluation Framework Development

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: The monitoring and evaluation framework accompanies the Plan, providing a high-level overview of the requirements for monitoring of and reporting on the Plan.

Estimated Timing

Summer -Autumn 2024

Planned Engagement Activities

• Targeted engagement with contractors, consultation authorities and internal teams across functions

Planning Position Statement

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Publishing a Planning Position Statement setting out issues to be addressed within NMP2 and providing an additional engagement opportunity for co-design of policy ideas with stakeholders.

Estimated Timing

Winter 2024

Planned Engagement Activities

Online public consultation utilising Citizen Space

• Targeted engagement with internal and external stakeholders
• Consultation analysis and publication of consultation analysis report

Draft NMP2 Plan and Assessments

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Statutory public consultation on the draft plan including roadshow of events for 16 weeks.

Estimated Timing

Winter 2025

Planned Engagement Activities

• Citizen space engagement
• Roadshow of engagement events with national and regional stakeholders – combination of in-person, hybrid, and online events.
• Utilising a range of communication resources to highlight engagement opportunities such as: NMP2 newsletter, website, social media and so on.

Explanatory Report

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Proposed changes and solutions received as part of the follow-up engagements will be summarised and published in an explanatory report to demonstrate how feedback has been used.

This aligns with the approach taken by NPF4 (National Planning Framework 4).

Estimated Timing

Autumn 2026

Planned Engagement Activities

• Series of follow-up engagements with respondents to the public consultation such as online meetings and workshops
• Publication of Explanatory Report on Scottish Government website.

Adopted NMP2 and post-adoption statement

Stage of Plan Preparation

Description: Lay draft NMP2 before Parliament for final approval. Publication of post-adoption statement. NMP2 implementation engagement opportunities

Estimated Timing

Summer 2027

Planned Engagement Activities

• Draft NMP2 will be laid before Scottish Parliament for a period of 40 days and will be considered by relevant Parliamentary Committee(s)
• Draft NMP2 will also be submitted to the Secretary of State for agreement.
• National and regional stakeholder engagement events on implementation of the adopted NMP2.

3.4.3 Retained functions

The plan will also include provisions relating to retained functions and a statement on inclusion of retained functions and the conformity of NMP2 with the UK Marine Policy Statement[5] will be prepared following consultation on the draft NMP2.

We will collaborate with officials in the UK government and other devolved administrations to enable joined-up marine planning across borders.

3.4.4 Sharing your views

If you, or your organisation, would like further information or if you have any comments on our approach to stakeholder engagement, the SPP, the matters to be included in NMP2 or the national marine planning process more generally, please contact us using the details provided below.

Write to:

Email: NationalMarinePlanning@gov.scot

Visit: National Marine Planning

Prepared: 20 September 2022

Revision 1: 15 April 2024