Marine Fund Scotland 2024-2025: general guidance notes

Notifications of change – costs and suppliers

This section provides information on what to do if you are successful in your application to the Marine Fund Scotland and there is a change at any point before or during the grant period to the costs of your project or the contractors/suppliers you are using, compared with what you set out in your application. Notifications must be made either using your/your organisation’s account on the Marine Scotland Funding Portal or by emailing us at MFS@gov.scot.

Changes to costs

You must notify us of any change to the overall costs of your project at the earliest opportunity via the Notification of Change process on the Marine Scotland Funding Portal). Please note, there will not be an automatic increase in grant funds offered if the project costs increase. Also, Marine Fund Scotland funding is provided as a percentage of eligible costs approved in the application process. This means that if the eligible costs of your project decrease, then so will the grant offered.

You can also request a change to the work/items funded through the grant as long as the aims/benefits of the project are still delivered. You should set out the rationale for the change, evidence value for money and any changes to the project’s targets, and any other relevant information. We will then consider the request and confirm if we are content to approve.

Grant rates

Funding from the Marine Fund Scotland 2024-25 should not duplicate or crowd out private financing, nor distort competition. It should facilitate private investment – especially where the private sector is profitable. As set out in the ‘What types of projects can apply to the Marine Fund Scotland 2024-25?’ section of these General Guidance notes, the Marine Fund Scotland aims to support projects with collective added value, in particular by addressing market failures or sub-optimal investment situations. One way in which we aim to achieve this is through the amount of funding that can be applied for depending on the type of project/applicant.

Table 1 below sets out the maximum total public funding that can be applied for towards a specific project, as a percentage of the total eligible project costs, by each category of applicant to the Marine Fund Scotland (the “grant rate”). “Eligible project costs” means the types of costs associated with a project that fit into the purposes and categories for which Marine Fund Scotland 2024-25 funding can be applied for.

Each grant rate is variable up to the stated maximum and there is no guarantee of Marine Fund Scotland funding. The stated grant rate is the total public funding. This could be funding from Marine Fund Scotland only, or from Marine Fund Scotland together with another public funding source. This means that if you are applying for, or have received, other public funding for the specific project that you are applying to the Marine Fund Scotland with, the total amount being applied for from the Marine Fund Scotland, together with the amount of the other public funding, cannot be higher than the grant rate. As set out in the ‘Additional rules and obligations’ section of these Guidance notes, applicants to the Marine Fund Scotland must disclose the source(s) and amount(s) of any other funding awarded in connection with the project in question.

Table 1 – grant rates for the Marine Fund Scotland 2024-25

Organisation/project/cost type

Private – where the project is wholly commercial

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

• up to 50% for Small and Medium- sized Enterprises (SMEs).
• up to 30% for large businesses. (but see row regarding projects with a high collective added value)

Organisation/project/cost type

Private – organisations of fishers/collectives of fishers acting in a collective manner

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

up to 60% (but see row regarding projects with a high collective added value)

Organisation/project/cost type

Public law bodies

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

up to 100%

Organisation/project/cost type

Projects with a high collective added value – for example, innovation, public access to results, collective beneficiaries (e.g. industry-wide benefits or benefits to multiple beneficiaries rather than to a single entity), etc. This could involve collaborations between public law bodies, private entities, third sector bodies, etc. Generally, we don’t consider commercial investments to meet this criterion.

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

up to 100%, depending on the strength of the evidence the applicant can provide to demonstrate that the project will provide collective added value and meet collective interests. Please contact MFS@gov.scot before you submit the application if you think you meet this criterion.

Organisation/project/cost type

Young Fishers

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

up to 40%, with a maximum grant award of £75,000 per application and £150,000 per individual vessel over multiple applications

Organisation/project/cost type

Testing novel engine technologies to support climate change mitigation, as part of a study or trial to test feasibility and impact

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

up to 40% of the extra cost compared to a diesel engine replacement

Organisation/project/cost type

Development/adaptation of gear and fishing techniques that reduces impact on biodiversity and/or natural capital, and/or reduce carbon emissions

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

• up to 100%, if for development/adaptation of innovative gear or techniques with wide collective benefit
• up to 40% for adaptation of vessel fishing techniques to reduce impact on biodiversity and/or natural capital (e.g. improving selectivity), and/or reduce carbon emissions

Organisation/project/cost type

Overheads – funding towards the costs of overheads is reserved for applications from non-commercial or not for profit organisations, charities,

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

up to 15% (i.e. in an hypothetical example where direct staff costs were £5,000, applicants could apply for a

Organisation/project/cost type

research institutions, universities and colleges. Overheads for staff costs are not eligible for commercial entities such as businesses. This is based on direct staff costs.

Grant rate (total public funding that can be applied for as a percentage of the total eligible project costs)

maximum of £750 under the heading of an overhead cost). Universities and higher education organisations can include full economic costs (fEC) in their applications. The UKRI-approved rates should be evidenced and the cost calculation provided.