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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I am sure that we all miss the noble Lord, Lord Greaves. He made what I thought would be a cameo appearance. Alas, it was all too short. I reiterate again—although I did not think I received much positive response from those usual channels who were present at the time—that I sympathise with noble Lords on this matter. Indeed, I attended the debate on local government two days ago only to listen to the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, being concerned about the Government trying to be too explicit about what should be done at local level. Alas, he is not here to argue that point as we debate an important group of amendments. I appreciate the thanks given to my officials for the maps that were produced yesterday. I echo noble Lords’ thoughts that this is rather complex. As we went through the maps yesterday, the complexity became ever more apparent. The noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy, spoke about publishing the maps with the Bill. I am not sure about publishing them as part of the Bill because I suspect that that would involve some legal niceties. I take her point, but I disagree with her pessimism about the Bill. I will certainly make sure that when, as we hope, this Bill becomes an Act, such maps will be made available to the people who actually have to operate and understand the new system. That was a fair point to make. Of course, I accept the general proposition put forward that inevitably, given the interrelationship between UK Government’s responsibilities, the devolved Administrations’ responsibilities and the Executive devolvement of authority, the fact that there are different sets of arrangements in different parts of the Bill is very important. All those who will be involved in ensuring that this Bill when enacted works in practice need to co-operate together. The question is whether the suggestion of the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, is the right one. A more fundamental question is that raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy, about whether you need a formal arrangement, and, if you do, can it be kept simple as possible? It is not easy to answer that. I say right at the beginning that I will be reflecting on this debate between now and Report. I will take a little time to describe the philosophy that we see underpinning the need for co-operation. Certainly, we see a range of formal and informal arrangements, depending in part on the nature of the organisations concerned, the potential impact of their remit on the MMO’s activities and the complexity of the interdependence of their respective roles and responsibilities. On the question of a memorandum of understanding, in some cases that will be entirely appropriate, but the organisations may not wish to have one. We think that the most appropriate form of arrangement in each case will be decided through mutual discussion and agreement. Any decisions to be taken on behalf of the MMO will be a matter for its board in due course. I want to reassure noble Lords that we plan to make more information available later this year as we continue to work on the transition from existing systems to the new body. The noble Duke seeks to include provision in Clause 2 to require the MMO to consult any relevant body with functions in the areas adjacent to, affecting or near the MMO’s area. I want to make it clear that, in the objectives set for the MMO, normal good practice on consultation will apply. This is already the case in relation to the existing Marine and Fisheries Agency whose functions will be subsumed by the MMO, and we will continue to expect consultation to take place with relevant bodies in adjacent areas as necessary. I am yet to be convinced that we have to make that a statutory part of the MMO’s duties, though I am listening to the debate today. We want the MMO to develop strong and effective engagement with its key delivery partners as well as with the full range of coastal and marine industries and interests. As an example, the MMO will be required to consult relevant bodies when making licensing decisions. We plan to engage with stakeholders—if I can use that wretched term—including relevant regional and local bodies in the marine planning process. It is obviously vital that regulators, coastal communities and a range of individual organisations with an interest in the marine and coastal environment are all to be involved in developing marine plans. Those organisations need to work together to facilitate that process and to make it transparent. The MMO will publish a Statement, known as a Statement of Public Participation, when beginning to develop each plan, setting out how stakeholders will be involved at each stage. This will include consideration of the nature of the coastal community and marine users affected in each plan area.