3.—(1) The Secretary of State may give a direction in relation to any national marine plan or regional marine plan adopted by the Scottish Ministers under paragraph 14 of schedule 1 to the 2010 Act provided the Secretary of State is satisfied that—
(a)a marine policy statement is currently in effect for the Scottish marine area (within the meaning of section 6(3) of that Act);
(b)the plan complies with section 6(1) of that Act; and
(c)the plan states that it will apply to reserved functions only if a direction under this paragraph is given.
(2) The Secretary of State must publish a direction under paragraph (1) in a way calculated to bring the direction to the attention of persons likely to be interested in or affected by it.
(3) A direction under paragraph (1)—
(a)may be withdrawn at any time; and
(b)ceases to have effect if the plan to which it relates has been amended under section 8 of the 2010 Act.
(4) While any direction under paragraph (1) continues in effect—
(a)section 15 of the 2010 Act applies to decisions made by public authorities in the exercise of reserved functions; and
(b)any plan to which such a direction relates is an “appropriate marine plan” for the purposes of that section (as applied by sub-paragraph (a)).