Recommendation 3

HM Government Acknowledged

Stakeholder engagement is highly valued by the Department, its Arms-Length Bodies (ALBs) and Ministers. It is a central part of policy delivery and implementation. In tandem, Defra fully recognises the importance of being clear about how and when stakeholders can input and is testing new and novel approaches to further improve. For example: • Defra currently undertakes significant engagement with stakeholders in the development and delivery of policy related to the management of the marine environment and uses of English coastal waters. This includes engaging stakeholders across a diverse range of sectors, through multiple forms, and at all stages in the development and implementation of policy. • Stakeholder engagement is central to developing the marine planning process, which is led in England by the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). This involves significant stakeholder engagement in the development of marine plans – including close partnership with local and national stakeholders from a range of backgrounds and sectors. Stakeholder involvement is central to creating robust, evidence-based local plans. • Defa has recently engaged stakeholders on the principles and criteria to assess the ecological, social and economic impacts of compensatory Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) for unavoidable impacts of offshore wind. • Defra has adopted the principles of co-design in a range of other initiatives. These include for example the delivery of sustainable fishing frameworks3 and the development of a new Fishing Industry Social Survey. The information gathered from robust and well-planned stakeholder engagement is valued and important as demonstrated by our evaluation of the effectiveness of engagement following guidance set out in HM Treasury’s Magenta Book. Defra and its ALBs already works within a wide framework of coordinated engagement and commits significant resources and time to ensuring that our discussions with stakeholders effectively contribute to the building of evidence, and development and delivery of policy. Stakeholders have informally expressed to us that their ability and capacity to engage with us to shape policy can be finite, and minimising the impacts of engagement is something we strive towards. We will review how we can further improve the ways we engage the full range of stakeholders at all levels in both the development of individual policies, and for the delivery of our overall work on the management of the marine environment. As well as extensive engagement of stakeholders through formal public consultations by Defra, and its ALBs, both Defra and ALBs responsible for marine management also liaise closely to keep each other informed of stakeholder views. This helps to determine which body should lead on engagement. For example, in some circumstances Defra also works more closely with stakeholders, where appropriate, and ahead of formal consultation to co-design policy and delivery, for example through Fisheries Management Plans. The Government therefore partially agrees with the recommendation at paragraph 23 and disagrees with the recommendation at paragraph 24.