Marine Bill consultation

The Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Environment Committee is seeking views on the general principles of the Marine (Scotland) Bill " . The Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament on 29 April 2009 and it is expected that the Rural Affairs and Environment Committee will be designated lead Committee for scrutiny of the Bill. The Scottish Government has produced a policy memorandum and explanatory notes to accompany the Bill.

Overarching stated aims of the Bill

The policy memorandum states that the Bill seeks to create “a framework to manage growing and competing demands for the use of marine resources in the seas around Scotland, balancing environmental and socio-economic considerations to maximise economic growth within sustainable environmental limits”.

Policy intentions covered by the Bill include:

• the creation of a statutory marine planning framework featuring national and regional structures and a National Marine Plan that will identify objectives and priorities for the marine environment. This is intended to include planning at a local level;
• the streamlining of marine licensing and marine consents. Provisions identify licensable marine activities, and the licensing process, including specific factors to be taken into account during the determination of licence applications;
• the establishment of Marine Protected Areas and the introduction of Marine Conservation Orders; and
• the introduction of a licence regime for the management of seals.

Stage 1 scrutiny of the Bill

At stage 1 of the Bill process, the Committee is concerned with the general principles of the Bill. The Committee hopes to hold evidence sessions to inform its scrutiny of the general principles of the Bill during May, June and September 2009. To inform evidence sessions, the Committee has issued this call for written views inviting individuals and interested parties for comment on the stated purposes of the Bill and their likely impact.

The Committee would welcome submissions from individuals and organisations that clearly and concisely highlight views on the broad thrust of the policy proposals and flag up any particular areas of concern.

Additionally, the Committee would be interested to hear about any issues that respondents feel may have been omitted from the Bill or any alternative approaches to managing the marine environment other than those proposed by the Bill.

Comments do not have to cover all aspects of the Bill, only those proposals which are of interest or concern.

How to submit your written views

Before making a submission, please read our policy for handling information received (pdf 15kb).

The closing date for written submissions is Thursday 11 June 2009.  Owing to the timescale required to process and analyse submissions, late submissions will only be accepted with the prior agreement of the Convener. The Committee prefers to receive written submissions electronically in word format, and ideally submissions should be no more than 4 pages (A4) long. These should be sent to:

rae.committee@scottish.parliament.uk

You may also make hard copy written submissions to:

Rural Affairs and Environment Committee

Room T1.01

The Scottish Parliament

Edinburgh

EH99 1SP

Category: SSACN Announcements