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General Operating Procedure for Seabed Agreement Enquiries in the Orkney Marine Region

This diagram describes an interaction between Crown Estate Scotland seabed and foreshore agreement processes1 that incorporates existing practices with intent to accommodate regional requirements, specifically Orkney Islands Council strategies for marine development. Crown Estate Scotland reserves its delegated authority for all final decisions about assets it manages on behalf of the Scottish Ministers.

1 A seabed agreement is the outcome of a process of enquiry, dialogue, licence application, lease option agreement or final terms of a lease.

IMAGE: A flow diagram showing the interaction between Crown Estate Scotland, the Applicant and Orkney Islands Council. The diagram contains the following text. Under the heading “Crown Estate Scotland”: “CES or Bidwells receives enquiry / application for seabed agreement within Orkney marine region & notifies OIC pilot officer”; “Initiates spatial conflict and sense checks, informs OIC pilot officer of outcome”; “Invites applicant to preliminary discussion about formal application, may include pilot officer”; and “CES informs OIC pilot officer of seabed agreement outcomes”. Under the heading “Applicant”: “Applicant instructed to read guidance at orkney.gov.uk/seabed or contact seabed.assets@orkney.gov.uk”; and “Applicant considers recommendations from OIC and makes any adjustments”. Under the heading “Orkney Islands Council”: “OIC receives seabed agreement enquiry form and engages with applicant as needed”; “OIC pilot officer logs request, conducts local sense check”; “OIC pilot officer delivers feedback form with local recommendations to applicant and CES”; and “OIC pilot officer reports new seabed agreement activity to Economic Development and Strategic Leadership”. Arrows show the enquiry progressing from Crown Estate Scotland to the Applicant and Orkney Islands Council, spatial and local sense checks taking place, recommendations being considered, a preliminary discussion occurring, and the outcome being reported. The page also displays the Orkney Islands Council and Crown Estate Scotland logos.

General Operating Procedure for Seabed Agreement Enquiries

  1. Crown Estate Scotland (CES) or Bidwells receives seabed agreement enquiry. Requests within Orkney Marine Region* require a completed Orkney Seabed Agreement Enquiry Form downloadable on the Crown Estate Scotland (CES) website prior to processing. Applicants will be guided to communicate their interest directly with Orkney Islands Council (OIC) Pilot Officer at seabed.assets@orkney.gov.uk or download an Enquiry Form at www.orkney.gov.uk/seabed.

  2. OIC Pilot Officer logs receipt of the completed Orkney Seabed Agreement Enquiry Form; prompts applicants; assists with application resources if required; evaluates against published OIC strategic documents which have been informed by local consultation and joint research.

    a. OIC Pilot Officer shall prompt applicant if notice of enquiry received from CES has not resulted in further interaction by the applicant.

  3. CES may use their discretion whether to include OIC Pilot Officer in initial discussions with the applicant. CES or managing agents initiate spatial conflict and preliminary background checks of applicant per standard procedure. Results of the internal GIS spatial check are sent to the OIC Pilot Officer in a ‘For Information Only’ (FOI) email that describes the applicants’ proposed seabed agreement in spatial data.

  4. OIC Pilot Officer will deliver the Orkney Seabed Agreement Feedback Form with comments to the applicant with any recommendations for modification, adaptation, or other local opportunities.

  5. A completed ‘OIC Lease Feedback Form’ is delivered to CES by the OIC Pilot Officer. If OIC Pilot Officer recommends CES to reject the application, then this will be accompanied by a justified reason against published plans/policy. CES exclusively retains all rights and final decisions on seabed agreement decisions and specific tenancy agreement negotiations.

  6. CES informs OIC Pilot Officer of the outcome of the seabed agreement application via email notification.

  7. OIC Pilot Officer reports results of the seabed agreement application to OIC Economic Development and Planning teams and Strategic Leadership; tracks progress and assists successful applicants with information about conducting business in Orkney waters.