Scottish Crown Estate strategic management plan: child rights and wellbeing impact assessment

Child Rights And Wellbeing - Stage 1: Key questions

1. Name the policy, and describe its overall aims.

First Strategic Management Plan for the management of the Scottish Crown Estate.

The Scottish Crown Estate Act 2019 places a duty on the Scottish Ministers to prepare a Strategic Management Plan for the management of the Scottish Crown Estate covering their diverse range of assets from:

• 37,000 hectares of rural land with agricultural tenancies, residential and commercial properties and forestry on four rural estates (Glenlivet & Fochabers in Moray, Applegirth in Dumfries and Galloway and Whitehill in Midlothian);
• Rights to fish wild salmon and sea trout in river and coastal areas;
• Rights to naturally occurring gold and silver across most of Scotland;
• Extensive coastal rights including just under half the foreshore, 5,800 moorings and in some ports and harbours around the whole of Scotland;
• Leasing of virtually all seabed out to 12 nautical miles, covering some 750 fish farming sites and agreements with cables & pipeline operators, and equivalent rights to the seabed out to 200 nautical miles;
• The rights to leasing for offshore renewable energy and gas and carbon dioxide storage out to 200 nautical miles;
• Retail and office units at 39-41 George Street Edinburgh.

The Act makes provision for what must be included in the Strategic Management Plan and how it must be prepared, consulted on and reviewed. These requirements include:

(a) setting out the Scottish Ministers' objectives, priorities and policies in relation to the management of the Estate (including the acquisition of new assets); and

(b) an assessment of how those objectives, priorities and policies align with the Scottish Ministers' other objectives, priorities and policies.

The Strategic Management Plan sits within and contributes to the delivery of the National Performance Framework and the Scottish Government's purpose: "To focus on creating a more successful country with opportunities for all of Scotland to flourish through increased wellbeing, and sustainable and inclusive economic growth."

The purpose and aim of the Strategic Management Plan for the management of the Scottish Crown Estate assets is to set out a transparent statement on the vision and high level objectives, priorities and policies and outcomes for the future management of the Estate, including how the new framework could look over the five year period of the Strategic Management Plan.

The vision is that the Scottish Crown Estate is managed sustainably, responsibly and fairly, and in a transparent and inclusive manner, to deliver financial benefits and wider and long-term social, economic and environment benefits for Scotland and its communities.

In summary the first Strategic Management Plan includes information on:

• Developing the Strategic Management Plan to align with wider objectives, priorities and policies;
• Delivering the Vision;
• Objectives, Priorities and Policies:
  • Theme 1: Delivering Benefits and Realising Opportunities
  • Theme 2: How Scottish Crown Estate assets are managed
  • Theme 3: Revenue, Management of Liabilities and other issues
  • Reporting, monitoring and review

2. What aspects of the policy/measure will affect children and young people up to the age of 18?

The first Strategic Management Plan sets out the Scottish Ministers' objectives, priorities and policies for the management of Scottish Crown Estate assets. Our assessment is that the proposals in the Strategic Management Plan will affect children and young people up to the age of 18 only insofar as they will have a general impact on those of all ages living in communities affected by the management of Scottish Crown Estate assets, and a wider strategic impact on the population of Scotland as a whole. There are no aspects of the Plan which impact specifically on children and young people.

3. What likely impact – direct or indirect – will the policy/measure have on children and young people?

No direct impacts are expected from the objectives, priorities and policies within the first Strategic Management Plan.

A driver for reform of the management of Scottish Crown Estate assets was to seek to ensure that local communities benefit from the devolution of the powers – through the revenue raised from assets and opportunities for local management of parts of the Estate. As highlighted earlier, the first Strategic Management Plan sets out the Scottish Ministers' objectives, priorities and policies for the Estate. In addition, future managers of one or more assets will be required to produce management plans for the assets taking account of the Strategic Management Plan. They must seek to contribute to the promotion or improvement of wider socio-economic and environmental factors when carrying out their functions.

All the above factors have an indirect positive impact, for example where individual assets managed in accordance with the Plan may provide benefit to children and young people as a specific grouping within a local community. However, any such impacts will flow from how individual managers take decisions within the overall legal framework. This includes the development of individual management plans. It is expected that these decisions would not disproportionately or specifically affect this population group.

A manager will need to consider when developing their management plan the implications of any impacts within it in relation to Child Rights and Wellbeing. We anticipate that this could entail an assessment of the impacts as part of the overall plan.

4. Which groups of children and young people will be affected?

No specific groups will be directly affected from the high level policies, priorities or objectives in the final Strategic Management Plan.

5. Will this require a CRWIA? – post-consultation update

Scottish Ministers ran a consultation from 30 August 2019 until 22 November 2019. A total of 34 responses were received. Overall, respondents agreed with our proposed vision, objectives, priorities and policies. Where a response was provided to the relevant consultation question about the Child Rights and Wellbeing question, the majority agreed with our conclusion for the impact assessment.

The profile of respondents by category consisted of organisations from local authorities, enterprise or coastal management bodies, leisure/tourism, fisheries/seafood bodies and other respondents.

Based on our initial assessment, and having taken the consultation responses into consideration, we remain of the opinion that a CRWIA is not required in relation to the first Strategic Management Plan.

Section 23 (1) of the Act requires that the Scottish Ministers must, not later than the end of each five year review period, review the Strategic Management Plan. This will include an assessment on whether a CRWIA is required.

CRWIA Declaration

CRWIA required

CRWIA not required ✔

Authorisation

Policy lead

Nim Kumar
Acting Head of Crown Estate Strategy Unit
Marine Scotland: Marine Planning and Policy, MPP

7 April 2020

Deputy Director or equivalent

Mike Palmer
Deputy Director
Marine Scotland: Marine Planning and Policy, MPP

7 April 2020