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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Minister. I know that he takes this seriously and I am glad to have that assurance. The amendment, which deals with co-operation between the different Administrations within the United Kingdom, is extremely important. I hope that my noble friends Lord Livsey and Lord Wallace of Tankerness will speak about the Welsh and Scottish dimensions of this issue. Before I come to the main issue with which the amendment is concerned, I express, on behalf all Members of your Lordships’ House, my thanks to the Minister and his team for the effective briefing we were given yesterday, including the substantial advice in the form of maps about the way in which the various Administrations will need to co-operate to give practical expression to the new arrangements under the Bill. We are all grateful to the Minister for his care and attention on this extremely difficult issue. Having said that, the fact that the Minister felt it desirable to have that briefing and that so many Members of your Lordships’ House attended demonstrates the importance of achieving clarity on the issue to which Amendment No. 31 refers. The purpose of this amendment to Clause 2(2) is to ensure really effective consistency and co-ordination between the MMO and the devolved Administrations. Where such an Administration are delivering activities within the UK marine area, there is currently no effective requirement in the Bill for the MMO to co-ordinate with it. Clearly, it is extremely important to ensure that an ecosystem approach to marine resource management is effective. On these Benches, we believe—and Committee Members on other Benches may perhaps agree—that it is necessary urgently to address this general objective for the MMO. It is clear that marine activities are not restricted to any political borders, least of all in the seas around our islands. The management regime must therefore reflect that. We believe that the marine environment must be seen to be dealt with holistically; cross-border areas will, therefore, have to be managed effectively. Otherwise, there is an obvious risk that the Marine and Coastal Access Bill could complicate the situation, at a time when we seek to simplify the management and licensing arrangements. This amendment, which noble Lords will surely agree is probing, therefore seeks to fulfil the point raised by the Joint Committee chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, that: "““The relationships between the MMO, the Welsh Assembly Government and the equivalent Scottish body should be formalised in the Bill””." It is not, in our view, sufficient to leave that to further secondary legislation or to guidance and instruction following thereafter. It also seems to me extremely important to go one step beyond the Joint Committee, by considering the relationship with the Northern Ireland Administration—another point raised at yesterday’s briefing—and, indeed, that of the Republic of Ireland. These matters will take no notice of any lines on the map. While Clause 2 seeks to ensure a ““consistent and co-ordinated”” approach to marine management within the MMO area, there remains a gap, given the need for the MMO to co-operate with the activities of equivalent bodies in the various Administrations outwith its area. If the MMO is to be the strategic delivery body for the UK marine area that we all hope and intend, it should clearly be obliged to co-operate with devolved equivalents through a Memorandum of Understanding, and to reach co-ordinated decisions for areas with a mix of reserved and devolved functions. There are probably several options to meet that requirement. The Minister might be able to indicate which option is preferred, but there clearly has to be one and it cannot be left in the air. The effective purpose of this amendment is to require the Bill to indicate the Government’s preferred option. There could be a joint body, for example, or a series of joint bodies or regional fora, following how this problem was faced in the JNCC model for UK conservation bodies as set out in Part 2 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities Act 2006. That involved the establishment of a joint body or bodies with distinct functions to advise on matters of common concern. The Joint Committee on the draft Marine Bill adopted that approach. Paragraph 201 of its report suggested that, "““the Government consider cooperative approaches towards the Irish Sea, similar to those of existing regional seas commissions, involving the devolved administrations (and the Governments of Ireland and the Isle of Man) to work together collectively to produce agreement on the coordination of spatial planning, fisheries and nature protection … in the Irish Sea, the Solway Firth and Bristol Channel””." Any brief look at the maps produced by the Minister and his team yesterday will obviously demonstrate the need for that co-operative and co-ordinated approach. We cannot wave maps around to any good effect in your Lordships’ House—Hansard does not record it—but all those Members who took advantage of yesterday’s briefing will agree that that approach is clearly extremely important, and I therefore hope that the Government will give further consideration to the recommendations of the Joint Committee. Another way would of course be to impose a specific duty on the MMO and devolved Administrations. Whether that would work or whether it is better to seek some form of specific mechanism is a matter on which Members of the Committee will hope to hear from the Minister. In the mean time, I beg to move Amendment 31.