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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

In moving Amendment 59 and speaking to Amendment 61, we seek to clarify the relationship between the Infrastructure Planning Committee—the IPC—and the MMO. As the Bill stands, this relationship is, at best, woolly. I am afraid that ““woolly”” is what I have written here again. We have heard ““flabby”” and ““fuzzy””; certainly this relationship is unclear. There is no mention of this relationship in the Planning Act, so these two pieces of legislation travel in parallel, yet never seem to join up. The Planning Act 2008 gives the IPC the power to determine nationally significant infrastructure projects offshore, offshore energy over 100 megawatts and larger harbours. In Committee on the Planning Act, my noble friend Lord Taylor argued that this was inappropriate as it placed the IPC above the MMO in the pecking order when it comes to these projects. The setting up of the MMO was welcomed by nearly everyone. The Environment Agency said that the MMO would be, and I use the phrase again: "““the champion of the seas””." This phrase was echoed by the Marine and Fisheries Agency, among others. Last week this idea of the MMO being champion of the seas was rather pooh-poohed by the Minister. He said that the phrase likened the MMO to a grandiose pressure group. I would argue that he has missed the mood of its proponents. I take the phrase to mean that the MMO will be the leading authority for all marine projects. However, will it be the marine authority? I believe that its authority will be undermined by the four—and there may be others—exemptions from MMO control; namely, oil and gas installations, which were regulated by BERR and are now regulated by the DECC; large renewable energy installations and major ports, which will be regulated by the IPC; shipping, which will be regulated by the Marine and Coastguard Agency; and the marine conservation zones in Part 5 of the Bill, which will be designated by ““the appropriate authority””. I believe that Natural England, and not the MMO, is vying for this position. What role will the MMO have? As it stands, it certainly will not have overall authority. There are at least six Whitehall departments and a plethora of government agencies and non-government organisations involved in the marine environment. Each has its own agenda. It should be the MMO’s role to take an overview of the impact of human activity on the marine environment and, indeed, the cumulative effects of this activity. Under the EU marine strategy framework directive, which I believe was the directive that my noble friend Lord Kingsland referred to earlier, member states are required to deliver good environmental status, or GES, by applying, "““an ecosystem-based approach to the management of human activities, ensuring that the collective pressure of such activities is kept within levels compatible with the achievement of good environmental status””." The MMO is the ideal organisation to ensure compliance with this directive but, as the Bill stands, it does not have the necessary authority, especially where the IPC is concerned. The MMO, as things stand, cannot say no, or that what is proposed is too harmful to the marine environment, or that the cumulative effect will be too damaging. It is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. Our amendments amend the Planning Act so that the MMO becomes the sole planning authority in the marine environment by removing the power of the IPC to determine offshore generating stations. That is not to say that applicants should not apply to the IPC for planning permission, but the IPC would then make a recommendation to the MMO for a final decision once the MMO has ascertained the effect, or cumulative effect, of the application on the ecosystem. I realise that this is only one way of skinning the cat. If the IPC is to retain control over larger projects, it is essential that the MMO is a statutory adviser. This still begs the question of what happens if the IPC ignores the advice of the MMO because, let us say, the economic advantages outweigh the environmental concerns. The Minister has already said that, "““inevitably many tensions will come to the fore in the work of the MMO board””.—[Official Report, 12/1/09; cols. 1061-62.]" These tensions will be inevitable. We saw this last week when, in balancing the economic good against the environmental concern, a decision was made in favour of a third runway at Heathrow. In the marine environment, both sides are building up their arguments for and against the Severn barrage. With this in mind, I had some sympathy with Amendment 28A once I had heard the arguments put forward by the noble Baroness, Lady Young, last week. She referred to her amendment again today but emphasised that it was a mechanism of last resort. We all understand the need for offshore infrastructures and this could be made quite plain in the marine policy statement and the guidance to be given to the MMO, and indeed in any memorandum of understanding. The noble Lord, Lord Hunt, while trying to clarify the relationship of the IPC and the MMO, said in Committee on the Planning Bill that: "““The MMO can add additional conditions to an order granting development consent if new information comes to light and can even revoke consent if necessary””.—[Official Report, 14/10/08; col. 694.]" This is, of course, welcome as it implies that the MMO after all will have the ultimate say on large marine developments. I hope that the Minister will stand by that statement. Perhaps something to that effect could be written into the Bill to clarify the situation. I welcome therefore the amendment of the noble Lord, Lord Davies of Coity, Amendment 63, which seeks to give the MMO the power of veto. We on these Benches believe that the MMO should be the ultimate marine authority—the champion of the seas; the leading authority—and that it should have the teeth it needs. I beg to move.