---

Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I am grateful for what the Minister said about my amendments. In practice, he is quite right; the fact that local authority representatives can veto the budget will mean that when it is worked out in any sensible system, it will be worked out consensually to ensure that there is no veto. However, there may be occasions when there is a veto, and my point is whether there should be a special procedure to invoke the veto or whether there should be an automatic stage in agreeing the budget; the budget is put together, is agreed by the majority of the committee of the IFCA, and then, as a further stage, is subject to agreement by the local authorities. If things are done well, such agreement will be formal, but that is my point; it is perhaps a matter of procedure rather than what should be in the Bill. I am grateful for what the Minister said about the other points, which I understand. I do not want to pre-empt what my noble friend might say, but I really want to understand—I do not yet understand this—how the capital expenditure will work. How will a large item of capital expenditure that is necessary for the functioning of an IFCA, whether it is for a building, a boat or anything else, be financed in practice? It is quite clear that, if it is big enough, it will not be financed simply out of revenue in a particular year. I do not think that it has been explained yet. As I say, I may be pre-empting my noble friend’s amendments, so I will sit down and let her have her say.