Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Brendan O'Hara
Main Page: Brendan O'Hara (Scottish National Party - Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber)Department Debates - View all Brendan O'Hara's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Fishing and Coastal Growth Fund
Brendan O'Hara Excerpts(2 days, 11 hours ago)
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Dame Angela Eagle
Clearly, the way that devolution works is that the Government in Westminster, once we have distributed funds via the Barnett formula, cannot ringfence them in any of the devolved Administrations. That would be a ridiculous misinterpretation of what devolution means, and I am sure that those devolved Administrations would be the first to complain if we tried. The hon. Member—I thank him for his welcome to me—needs to talk to the Northern Ireland Assembly about what it is going to do. We want the fund to be used for the purposes for which it was created, but by definition the devolution settlement takes the ringfence off, so he must have his arguments with the Assembly.
Brendan O’Hara (Argyll, Bute and South Lochaber) (SNP)
I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdeenshire North and Moray East (Seamus Logan) for securing this urgent question. The aggregated coastline of my constituency is greater than that of France, so the fishing industry plays a crucial part in its economic wellbeing. Having barely survived the disaster of Brexit, this latest decision by the UK Government is another kick in the teeth to those fishing communities. We are all agreed that this formula is fundamentally unfair, so did the Secretary of State for Scotland come to the Minister’s Department at any point and specifically urge her to reverse this decision—yes or no?
Dame Angela Eagle
Following Brexit—since leaving the EU under the trade and co-operation agreement—the UK received an uplift in its fishing quota. Some 65% of that uplift went to Scotland. That was worth £107 million on 2024 figures, so I think Scotland got a reasonable deal. Remember that the uplift in the quota, which creates real income, is locked in going forward.