Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government is seeking as many views as possible to it’s online consultation on proposed Fisheries management measures within Scottish inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space/

To extend awareness and reach, a series of 26 in person drop in events are taking place across Scotland to help people understand what is being presented and to guide them through using the consultation platform. If individuals are unable to attend an in person event there are also 16 on- line sessions available for them to engage with. The majority of these are general sessions with some region specific and an additional session aimed at young people. Further online sessions will be scheduled to meet any emerging demand. These sessions have been arranged over a range of days and times to allow options for attendance.

The geo-spatial element of the citizen space platform has been utilised and respondents are able to choose to respond by marine region or by fishing gear type. Following lessons learned from the Offshore MPA consultation the platform has been specially designed to allow the respondent to easily navigate through the consultation with all relevant information being linked throughout. Within the consultation, responses can be saved and returned to for further editing. The documentation has been written in as accessible as possible language and format.

Should a respondent have difficulty in completing the consultation online, they can provide a written response either by email to [email protected] or by writing to

Inshore MPA and PMF Management Consultation

Scottish Government

Marine Planning and Policy Division

Area 1B North

Victoria Quay

Edinburgh EH6 6QQ

Some of the consultation documents are available in Gaelic and we are happy to receive responses in both English and Gaelic.

There has been widespread engagement with the fishing industry and environmental organisations for over 10 years on the proposed measures, and the launch of the consultation has been widely publicised throughout these networks The Scottish Government held a pre-consultation launch event on the 3 September with key stakeholders to provide insight into the consultation documents and provide opportunity for discussion.

The Scottish Government and NatureScot are working with partners to advertise consultation online and drop-in sessions, utilising local papers and social media channels. Notification of the consultation, online and drop-in sessions have also been publicised through the Scottish Governments Marine Bulletin which has notified 430 subscribers to the newsletter.

The Scottish Government is supportive of approaches to protect children and young people from the advertising of products that may cause health harms. The Scottish Government notes that the regulation of advertising for public health reasons is devolved to the Scottish Parliament, but some specific forms of regulation – such as those targeted at advertising on tv and radio broadcasts – can be reserved to UK Government.

The Scottish Government supported the legislation introduced by the UK Government to restrict advertising on broadcast and online of foods high in salt, sugar. However, the exemption granted to brand advertising by the UK Government may limit the effect of those regulations, a concern raised with the UK Government by Scottish Ministers.

Similarly the Public Health Scotland rapid review of evidence on alcohol marketing highlighted that there is an existing evidence base for restrictions on alcohol marketing that are comprehensive and across all advertising channels. However, that is more difficult without being able to make specific provision about advertising on tv and radio broadcasts.

Whilst the Scottish Government can take steps to protect children and young people from exposure to the advertising of health harming products, because key areas of advertising regulations are reserved this limits the choices available to Scottish Ministers to achieve this.

The Scottish Government has undertaken a socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) based on the methodology co-designed by the fishing industry and environmental NGOs. This SEIA is available as part of the supporting documents for the consultation on proposed Fisheries management measures within Scottish inshore Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) and proposed Priority Marine Feature (PMF) management areas - Scottish Government consultations - Citizen Space .

Following the Ministerial decision on final fisheries management measures appropriate socio-economic monitoring will be undertaken to assess their impact

Grants made by Scottish Enterprise (SE) to commercial entities using funding from the Grangemouth Just Transition Fund are subject to SE’s standard grant monitoring and reporting arrangements. No specific targets or reporting requirements have been placed on recipients in relation to procurement from businesses in Grangemouth or the wider Falkirk Council area. Any such requirements would need to be considered in line with subsidy control and public procurement obligations.

The Scottish Government is committed to supporting employment opportunities in Grangemouth through the work of the Grangemouth Investment Taskforce and the Grangemouth Future Industry Board, as set out in the Programme for Government.

The Scottish Government accepted all recommendations of the Working Group and continues to work with industry, policing and justice partners to progress their implementation.

Since the UK Government's formal apology in July 2026, Scottish Government officials have continued to engage with UK Government counterparts on issues relating to historic forced adoption practices. Discussions have included the support package announced by the UK Government following its apology, alongside wider issues affecting those impacted by historic forced adoption.

The Grangemouth Industrial Just Transition Plan commits to a formal monitoring and evaluation framework based on the Plan's 16 Just Transition Outcomes. In line with that commitment, the first comprehensive assessment against the monitoring and evaluation framework is scheduled for 2027.

The Equality Act 2010, including the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED), applies in relation to the protected characteristics set out in that Act. In Scotland, additional specific duties are set out in the Equality Act 2010 (Specific Duties) (Scotland) Regulations 2012. Adoption status is not a protected characteristic under the Equality Act 2010. The Scottish Government therefore does not undertake Equality Act 2010 or Public Sector Equality Duty assessments solely on the basis of a person's status as an adoptee.

The Scottish Government remains committed to strengthening protections for public transport workers.