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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

Yes. I would be happy to send a note to noble Lords on the number of members on the sea fisheries committees as compared with the IFCAs. The SFC in Cornwall, for example, has 26 members; Cumbria 14; Devon 20; Eastern 20; Isles of Scilly eight; Kent and Essex 22; Northumberland 20; North Eastern 36; North Western and North Wales 38; Southern 20; and Sussex 20. It depends on which model is adopted. If, for instance, one took the sixth IFCA option, it is likely that the committees will be larger in future because the size is determined essentially by how many upper-tier or single-tier local authorities have to be represented. Equally, we want to get a much more effective balance than we have at the moment. Looking at the representation on the sea fisheries committees at the moment, one sees that local authorities have roughly half the membership. The remaining half is appointed mainly by my department. We seek a much more balanced representation ensuring not only strong local authority representation but, obviously, representation of the fishing sector in its many different components and representation of the environmental and conservation interests. That is probably worth the price of somewhat larger committees. At the moment, about £6 million of local authority funding is paid to sea fisheries committees. We reckon that there will be an additional expenditure, and my department will provide additional funding of around £5 million per year through the area-based grant. One has to say that we expect more of these new authorities. We see a developing role for them and we see the issues around environmental conservation as particularly important. On n that basis, we see some expenditure as reasonable.