Member

The arguments behind this amendment have been put very effectively, but I draw one additional point to the attention of the Minister. There is perhaps one lesson from Scotland that the Government might consider, and it relates in a sense, but much more locally and parochially, to the comments made by my noble friend about fishing communities in west Africa and the knock-on effect. The chief executive of fish farms’ landlord, Crown Estate Scotland, has said that rural communities might benefit more if the state-owned corporation is allowed to keep more of its income, instead of returning it to the Scottish Government. Ronan O’Hara made that plea this September in evidence to the Scottish Parliament’s Rural Affairs and Islands Committee as part of its inquiry into salmon farming. O’Hara’s approach is not dissimilar to that of the salmon industry trade body, Salmon Scotland. Since 2022 Salmon Scotland has been asking for the £10 million a year in rents that CES now collects from fish farmers to be invested in local communities. That is not dissimilar, either, to the position that exists in Norway. I suggest that if, at the discretion of others, more money was retained by CES for reinvestment at a local level, there could potentially be much more benefit for local communities.