Consultants to provide a range of services to establish a fishing fund

Description

Consultants to provide a range of services to establish a fishing fund which will provide a mechanism to enable the offshore wind industry to provide grants to the fishing industry. This is a voluntary initiative being progressed by Crown Estate Scotland, in collaboration with offshore wind developers, the fishing industry and Marine Scotland. The objective of the fund is to provide a mechanism which enables the offshore wind industry in Scotland to provide grants to the fishing industry to support projects which deliver against broad thematic aims (to be defined by steering group, examples include health & safety, education, sustainability and just transition). The fund is entirely distinct from the consenting process and any associated mitigation or compensation. Crown Estate Scotland is seeking to appoint Consultants to provide a range of services to establish a fishing fund which will provide a mechanism to enable the offshore wind industry to provide grants to the fishing industry. The fund is currently at an early inception stage. Crown Estate Scotland is seeking support services to develop the structure and governance arrangements for the fund in collaboration with key stakeholders. The support services include the following: - Facilitation of and secretariat for a funders group of representatives from Crown Estate Scotland and offshore wind developers to discuss key elements of the fund. It is expected that this group would meet 3 times over the course of the project. Key topics are expected to include: - approach to funding contributions - to include developer funding levels and the development of a flexible approach to accommodate funding coming from different corporate entities (i.e. developers vs project companies) and at different project stages (e.g. project companies may only provide funding when a project has reached construction stage). - Establishment, facilitation and secretariat for a steering group comprised of the funders group, plus fishing industry representatives and Marine Scotland, expected to meet approximately monthly. Key topics are expected to include: - fund objectives; - stakeholder engagement; - development of eligibility criteria to support decision making related to the award of grants (note these are expected to be reviewed annually to ensure no unintended consequences and no duplication with other funding initiatives); - Development of potential governance structures for the fund to include the legal entity of the fund e.g. SCIO or third party administrator, as well as the operational governance e.g. steering group, funding panel etc. - An assessment of benefits and risks associated with each potential structure. - Identification of the preferred governance structure for the fund and actions required to set up the preferred structure. - Facilitation and organisation of workshop(s) with the fishing industry and other stakeholders to identify potential projects which could be supported by the fund and to ensure the fund is accessible to the fishing industry.