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Scottish Governments National Marine Plan "unclear and confusing"

By: Chris Anderson 02/02/2015 Scottish Parliament

General Grid

A draft National Marine Plan ( NMP )for Scotland, developed by the Scottish Government over a five year period is still not ‘fit for purpose’ according to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee.

The Committee voices strong concerns as it reports on the Scottish Government’s draft National Marine Plan.

Rob Gibson MSP, Convener of the Committee said:
“The Committee is deeply disappointed that a Government plan five years in the making is simply not yet fit for purpose. Multiple uses are made of our marine environment, and increasingly these are coming into conflict. But the Scottish Government’s draft National Marine Plan does not provide a clear and concise set of policies that can be consistently applied by decision-makers and those using the marine environment. There is a danger the plan in its present form will create conflict by having highly prescriptive actions in some areas, while setting out vague aspirations in others. Simply put, instead of making the marine environment easier, it risks making it more difficult.”

Rob Gibson continued:
“The right Government plan has the potential to clearly outline rights and responsibilities, while protecting Scotland’s sustainable future. We are calling on the Scottish Government to create a final National Marine Plan that is clear, concise and can be evenly applied across the country.”

In its report on the Scottish Government’s National Marine Plan, the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee highlighted a range of issues, including:
The Committee believes that the general policies set out in the draft plan provide an important framework and reinforce sustainability as an overarching principle. But there are concerns as to how regional marine planning will interact with the national plan, and the Committee’s belief that the current draft does not give sufficient guidance to local authorities to ensure a consistent approach.

Whether all local authorities have the required levels of experience, expertise and resources to successfully develop and implement regional marine plans.
A call for the plan to be effectively monitored and assessed, and for the online interactive version of the plan to be established as a first-class authoritative source for Scotland’s marine areas.

The Committee heard evidence from Scottish and Southern Energy Power and Distribution (SSEPD) that the process set out in the draft NMP was applied when replacing the Mainland to Jura submarine cable which faulted in June 2014. SSEPD argue that the process in the draft NMP does not allow for a fast track approach for dealing with replacements and faults, especially in emergencies and this is something that needs to be reviewed to ensure customer‘s electricity supplies can be secured.

The SSEPD also argued that the draft NMP process did not use an evidence based approach as a cost benefit analysis of cable burial was not carried out (as discussed earlier in this report).

Replacement of a cable is not a repair

The Committee asked the Cabinet Secretary whether the draft NMP should contain a fast track approach for the repair of faulty submarine cables to secure customer‘s electricity supplies.

While the Cabinet Secretary recognised that the process around the Jura case took some time he also advised that this was because it was not deemed as a repair to an existing cable but as a replacement cable. He advised that a repair to an existing cable does not require to go through the consent process whereby the replacement of a cable does. He did agree that lessons had been learned from the Jura case and that in future whenever it is possible to expedite the process then that should happen.

However the Committee took the view that the length of time it took to replace the power cable which supplies electricity to Jura, Islay and Colonsay was unacceptable and it welcomes the Cabinet Secretary’s commitment to take forward the lessons that have been learned from this case with a view to improving the process to allow any future similar incidents to be resolved safely and as speedily as possible.

SSEPD stated with respect to subsea cables the plan seemed to be
― specific and explicit but unclear and confusing -
and they have highlighted several instances where it believes the draft unclear. In other written evidence the Committee heard that Scottish Renewables welcomed the policy, and in particular the plan to treat decisions on the burial of submarine cables on a case-by- case basis.

The Cabinet Secretary confirmed the draft NMP sets out a risk assessment based approach with decisions made on a case by case basis, which in practice will mean that some submarine cables may require to be buried while others will not.

The Committee agrees that a risk assessed case by case approach is appropriate but considers that there appears to be some confusion around the drafting of Chapter 14 on submarine cables. They recommended that the Scottish Government reviews the wording of Chapter 14 to ensure it is clear and contains all relevant information on the procedures to be followed.

Background
The Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee’s (RACCE) report on Scotland’s draft National Marine Plan can be accessed here.
The Rural Affairs, Climate Change and Environment Committee (RACCE) scrutinises policy proposals relating to rural affairs, climate change and the environment. It comes to a view after taking comprehensive evidence from, and engaging with, a wide range of stakeholders ‘on the frontline’ and applies authoritive, expert, effective and influential scrutiny to policy.
Photographs of the Committee and Convener are available free of charge.

- See more at: http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/newsandmediacentre/86256.aspx#sthash.4kdgTyW1.dpuf

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Scottish Governments National Marine Plan "unclear and confusing"

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