---

Broads Authority Bill

My Lords, I, too, congratulate the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Norwich for his speech, together with all Members who have contributed to what I think has been an extremely interesting, informative and useful debate for when we consider the Bill at its next stage, in the special arrangements for such Bills in Committee. I cannot bring great experience of knowledge of the Broads to your Lordships' House, although the debate today has certainly prompted me to gain that experience. However, as noble Lords know, I live in Birmingham, which has extensive waterways. It has a huge canal network; there are more canals in Birmingham than in Venice. I recognised some of the points that had been raised about the tensions between different legitimate users of the waterways. That is a very important point. While the authority has come under some criticism tonight, it would be fair to say that it can be no easy task to manage the authority and deal with those tensions in a way that commends itself to everybody. I should explain that Defra is the sponsoring department for the national parks and the Broads Authority, which is why I stand before your Lordships tonight. Of course, although I cannot claim a great knowledge of the Broads, I well understand their significance and importance to the people of Norfolk and Suffolk as well as their national and international importance. They are a treasure that must be protected. The Government are very much behind all those who have done so much to ensure that the Broads are maintained and developed in the most appropriate way possible. The Government remain firmly supportive of the general aims of the Broads Authority Bill. We agree it is important that the main aim of the Bill is to improve safety on the Broads through a series of measures. I noted the comments of the noble Lord, Lord Glenarthur, about safety. I have an extensive list and analyses of deaths and injuries on the Broads since 1993 which I will make available in the Library to all noble Lords who have spoken. The statistics suggest, for instance, that in 2006 there were two deaths on or from boats and two deaths not from boats. I can also list out near misses for drowning and other injuries. I do not have figures comparing the Broads with other waterways, and I suspect that it is difficult to make direct comparisons. However, in the interests of scrutiny I will dig into my department’s statistics to see whether I can make any other information available, as that would no doubt be helpful to the committee in making a judgment on whether the safety measures are proportionate. The view of my department and the Government is that the safety measures are proportionate. They include, as noble Lords have said, the licensing of hire craft, compulsory third-party insurance and improvements to how the Broads Authority operates. Introduction of the boat safety scheme has ensured that vessels are properly maintained. Our understanding is that the Bill will allow that scheme to be updated effectively. That is consistent with the practice of both the British Waterways authority and the Environment Agency. There has been considerable interest in the constitution of the authority and its membership, whether there should be directly elected members, and the position of parish council members. Those are very important matters to which I have paid a great deal of attention. We have the House of Commons’ special report and its conclusion that the Broads Authority and local people will benefit from the provision of direct elections to the authority. As noble Lords will know, in the light of that my department has launched a consultation to look not only at introducing directly elected members to all park authorities and the Broads Authority but at introducing parish council members to the Broads Authority. I well understand the question of accountability, a very important matter, and the noble Baroness, Lady Shephard, rightly mentioned the distinctive nature of the Broads Authority. Those matters will need to be carefully considered. I suppose that the current composition of the Broads Authority reflects both its national and local role. That is why we have the current 21 members. Nine of those are serving members of district or county councils in the Broads area, two are members of the navigation committee, and 10 are appointed by my department following an open competition, and in some cases following consultation with boating or farming and landowning organisations on the Broads. My experience is that whenever I debate matters with the noble Baroness, Lady Shephard, she manages to get in the issue of local government reorganisation. I noted with interest her comments, and those of the noble Lord, Lord Walpole, on this matter. She will know that I was a member of Oxford City Council in the 1970s, and how grievously I felt about the loss of unitary status from the great county borough councils. I have never forgiven the noble Lord, Lord Walker, for doing that. I do not know if I am supposed to say this but—