The new arrangement, which has been agreed with COSLA, means that 26 local authorities will receive an allocation from the net revenue of the Scottish Crown Estate based on each council’s share of the adjacent sea area.

Roseanna Cunningham, land reform secretary, said: “I believe strongly in maximising the benefits of the Scottish Crown Estate and the allocation of £7.5m to coastal communities the length and breadth of Scotland is the latest step in achieving this. The new funding arrangement will see coastal communities receive 100% of revenue generated from the Estate’s marine assets out to 12 nautical miles around Scotland, enabling them to better fund and support local projects and initiatives.”

She added: “This government is delivering on our commitment to bring financial benefits to communities from the Scottish Crown Estate marine assets and enabling more decisions to be taken at the local level. I look forward to seeing how councils use this exciting opportunity to benefit to their coastal communities.”

The allocation of £7.5m being made in 2019/20 for coastal community benefit in Scotland is higher than the funding that was previously available under the old Coastal Communities Fund (CCF).

Under round four of the CCF, the total amount available to coastal communities in Scotland was £4.2m for the overall period from 2017 to present.

The total amounts available to each coastal council under this year’s allocation, from net revenue generated from the Scottish Crown Estate marine assets out to 12 nautical miles in 2017/18, are based on a distribution method agreed with COSLA.

It is envisaged that this funding will replace the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland, which was limited to significantly lower levels of investment for Scottish coastal communities. There are therefore no plans to run future rounds of that fund in Scotland.

The distribution method for future years will be kept under review as part of ongoing discussions with COSLA.