South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan: three-year report
Source: gov.uk (2025-06-30)

The three-year progress report on the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan.

This report was developed under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government. Although it is broadly aligned with existing legislation, there may be aspects of the report which may not fully reflect current government policy.

These reports review the progress made in meeting the aims of the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-south-marine-plans-documents) and the UK Marine Policy Statement (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-marine-policy-statement).

The south inshore marine plan area stretches from Folkestone in Kent to the River Dart in Devon. The south offshore marine plan area includes the area from 12 nautical miles out to the maritime borders with France and the Channel Islands. The South Marine Plan was adopted on 17 July 2018.

The South Marine Plan is a 20-year plan. Sections 54 and 61 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2009/23/contents) require matters that may impact the contextual landscape of marine planning and the marine plans themselves to be kept under review, with reports to be published every three years following plan adoption. There are two Three-Year Reports on the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan: one published in 2021 for the period from 2018 to 2021 and one in 2025 for the period from 2021 to 2024.

The Marine Management Organisation (MMO)’s approach to monitoring marine plans (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-north-east-marine-plans-documents) covers:
- context monitoring – an assessment of the legislative or regulatory changes that may affect the relevance of the marine plan
- process monitoring – an assessment of if, and how, the marine plan and its policies are being used
- outcome monitoring – an assessment of the effects and effectiveness of the plan policies, of the progress made towards securing the plan objectives, and where relevant, of the contribution towards high level marine objectives (HLMOs)
Amending or replacing the South Marine Plan

The second Three-Year Report shows that the South Marine Plan remains broadly aligned with new and existing legislation and is becoming embedded within the planning and consenting process. The largest proportion of plan policies reported positive effects, resulting in the South Marine Plan showing positive progress towards five plan objectives. Some progress has been made towards the HLMOs, but more time is needed to identify clear trends and assess the effects and effectiveness of specific policies.

Following advice from the MMO, the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan will be retained and not amended or replaced at this time.

The report was developed under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government. Whilst the report shows that the marine plan remains broadly aligned with new and existing legislation and is becoming embedded within the planning and consenting process, changes to policy under the current government may have occurred since preparation of the report.

Marine planning

Marine planning (https://www.gov.uk/topic/planning-development/marine-planning) is the approach to managing the seas around England introduced by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.

There are 11 marine plan areas in England. Marine plans are intended to:
- inform and guide marine users and regulators
- manage the sustainable development of marine industries, such as wind farms and fishing
- help conserve and protect marine species and habitats
Marine plans contribute to the UK’s vision of clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas.

Read the 2021 three-year report on the South Inshore and South Offshore Marine Plan (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/three-year-technical-report-on-the-south-inshore-and-south-offshore-marine-plan).