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Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

As the noble Baroness said, the amendments are designed to require the Secretary of State to select the chairman and members of the council following an open and fair competition regulated by the Commissioner for Public Appointments. Clause 67 gives the council a new constitution as an independent body responsible to the Secretary of State in England and Wales and Scottish Ministers. It preserves the council as a body with a chairman and a minimum of two members, and, as the noble Baroness says, retains the requirement for two members to be appointed by Scottish Ministers. The reason this clause does not specify the procedures the Secretary of State should employ when appointing the chairman and members is that Ministers are already required to follow the Commissioner for Public Appointments code of practice when making appointments to NDPBs. The council is covered by the code, and that will not change. I hope that will satisfy the noble Baroness. Amendment No. 332 is a technical amendment designed to reflect the fact that the new Inland Waterways Advisory Council will be an advisory, rather than an executive, NDPB. Clause 68 transposed responsibility for the support of the council from British Waterways to the Secretary of State and Scottish Ministers, and we have therefore had to consider how that support should be provided. NDPBs are usually considered as either executive or advisory. Executive bodies receive grants in aid and submit annual reports and accounts to Parliament, while advisory bodies form part of a parent department and receive funding from that department’s budget. The existing council does not fit neatly within either of those categories. We have concluded that it would be appropriate for the new council to be classed as an advisory NDPB. That means the new Section 110A(7) of the Transport Act 1968 inserted by Clause 68 of the Bill is no longer appropriate, as the new council will not receive payments from the Secretary of State and Scottish Ministers, but will be funded directly by the parent department. The government amendment substitutes wording customarily used to authorise Ministers to support advisory NDPBs. The noble Baroness’s Amendment No. 333 would delete subsection (1) of Clause 69, which gives the Council new statutory advisory functions in England and Wales. If this were accepted, the Council would be unable to offer advice to anyone about the inland waterways in England and Wales, and would not even be able to rely on its existing powers because they are being repealed by Clause 67. We are changing the Council’s role because the Government need a source of independent expert advice about the strategic use of all the counties’ waterways, especially the contribution they can make to Government policies for rural as well as urban areas. The Council is ideally placed to fill that role, and to advise navigation authorities and all other bodies with an interest in the wider use of waterways. The links with British Waterways and the formal statutory advisory functions are now out of date. We are therefore separating the Council from British Waterways and giving it new, broader terms of reference so it can advise government, navigation authorities and other interested persons about all uses. We are preserving the constitution as a cross-border body with responsibilities in Scotland as well as England, and for that reason we are preserving the current arrangement for two members appointed by Scottish Ministers.        Perhaps this will help the noble Baroness. The work in Scotland will be limited because its brief will extend only to inland waterways owned or managed by British Waterways, or in respect of which British Waterways is providing technical advice or assistance. But experience and knowledge of Scottish waterways requires members with that particular background, and we believe that having two members strikes the right balance because of the balance of interest and concern. I hope the noble Baroness will accept that the Council needs to be given a new remit if it is to be able to play a full part in helping to maximise the benefits provided by inland waterways. I hope also that noble Lords will accept that the existing balance should be kept. I therefore invite the noble Baroness to withdraw her amendment.