Chamber and committees

There will be no compulsory redundancies. Some staff have elected to take advantage of early severance/retirement opportunities offered as part of a wider recent Scottish Government initiative to achieve efficiency savings. Although the final outcome of that process will not be known until the end of the year, to date 16 staff have indicated acceptance of the early severance/retirement terms offered to them. Any other staff affected by restructuring as a consequence of the move to Marine Scotland will be re-deployed either within Marine Scotland or elsewhere.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-22772 on 8 May 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

It is for the director and senior management team of Marine Scotland to manage its overall budget, including across the range of its functions, in the light of demands, priorities and other circumstances.

Marine Scotland''s budget is based on the resources for Marine and Fisheries announced in the Scottish Budget Spending Review 2007 and subsequent Budget Bills. Provision for this in 2009-10 is currently set at £77.9 million (net): details can be found at:

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/01/08095240/0.

Equivalent provision for 2010-11 was set by the 2007 Spending Review at £70.8 million (net). Details can be found at http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/11/13092240/0.

Marine Scotland''s provisional budget for 2009-10 is set out in its 2009 Strategy Statement, available at www.scotland.gov.uk/marinescotland2009strategystatement. This reflects gross expenditure provision related to Marine Scotland''s functions and excludes provision related to the former Marine Directorate''s Departmental Running Costs. The structure of the current Marine and Fisheries Budget and the sums available during 2009-10 will be revised at this year''s Autumn Budget Revision to take account of the establishment of Marine Scotland on 1 April 2009.

The first meeting of the Science Advisory Board will be arranged as soon as the membership has been established.

I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-21911 on 23 March 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament''s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

There is wide support for the establishment of Marine Scotland because of the improved marine management arrangements it will deliver. Establishing Marine Scotland on 1 April means it can begin to integrate existing functions and resources of the constituent bodies, and prepare for new functions once the Marine Bill is enacted. It also has the benefit of ending uncertainty for the staff involved, and others. 2009-10 will be a transitional year in which the work will be done to establish how best to fulfil Marine Scotland''s future remit and functions, as opposed to the remits of its predecessor constituent bodies, and the exact numbers of staff that will be required to do so. At this stage, therefore, it is not possible to be definitive in relation to the question asked but the following information represents the current position and provides an indication of possible future arrangements.

Science and compliance within Marine Scotland each involve, currently, a total of around 280 staff, covering the range of their functions. In the case of compliance, this includes the Sea Fisheries Inspectorate, marine staff and headquarters operations and enforcement staff. Science functions include research, general science, technical support and engineering. There are currently around 130 other Marine Scotland staff dealing with a range of policy, delivery and related functions.

The extent and allocation of resources devoted to particular activities in future will be subject to review as Marine Scotland develops and integrates existing and new functions, and in light of priorities, resource availability and other matters. That includes decisions on resources for marine planning, arrangements for which depend amongst other things on parliamentary consideration of the Marine Bill.

We are also considering better streamlined marine licensing arrangements, including scope for a co-ordinating role for Marine Scotland. Future arrangements and resources related to that have yet to be decided.

Marine Scotland was created as part of the Scottish Government and specific legislative provision is not included in the Marine (Scotland) Bill.

Marine Scotland will carry out the functions created through the Scottish Marine Bill whatever they may be.

Marine Scotland Science has close working relationships with the fishing industry established under the former Scottish Government agency, Fisheries Research Services. Regular meetings are held with fishermen''s representative organisations including the Scottish Fishermen''s Federation to discuss matters of mutual interest. This includes regular meetings on scientific advice and the Scottish Industry Science Partnership. These arrangements will continue within Marine Scotland.

Schedule 1 of the Marine (Scotland) Bill sets out the consultation requirements when creating a marine plan. These proposals will allow interested parties to take part in the marine planning process.

Savings are, for a variety of reasons, difficult to estimate precisely at this stage. However, on the basis of analysis done to date on the Marine Bill and related delivery arrangements, we anticipate savings of around £1.5 million annually due to efficiency gains from the establishment of Marine Scotland, as published in the Regulatory Impact Assessment for the Marine Bill. Other savings are likely to accrue, for example from integrating within existing structures and responsibilities new planned functions and responsibilities set out in the Marine Bill, and from making more optimal use of marine surveillance assets. There will also be some transitional costs.

This excludes costs related to the delivery of new functions and responsibilities, as set out in the Marine Bill.