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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness is absolutely right, and has made this point a number of times in our earlier discussion on the Bill. It is a complex situation and the regulatory regime is different for different aspects of the Bill, which adds to the complexity. Noble Lords have expressed concerns about how we can have a coherent approach to the marine environment in UK waters. Equally, the Government have always stated firmly that we have to be consistent with the devolution settlement. The Bill represents our best approach to doing that. Alongside it, there have been very encouraging discussions in the last few months between the UK Government and the devolved Administrations, recognising the points that the noble Baroness has made. There has been genuine agreement that all the Governments concerned want to make this work. The amendments that I am bringing before the Committee are proof of that. The fact that we have been able to reach agreement is visible evidence that, notwithstanding the complexity of this matter and the difficulty of ensuring consistency, the Administrations and the UK Government have agreed an approach. That is greatly encouraging. We do not wish to seek the agreement of the representatives of the fishing organisations on enforcement. That is not the appropriate wording. I say to the noble Baroness that we will want to work with those organisations and, following legislation, as part of the rollout of the information we will clearly need to take account of the points that she has raised. There will need to be training and advice given to representative organisations, and we will do that. To answer the questions that were raised, I can say that the Bill does not change the circumstances in which a ship may be boarded. I do not think that in itself will cause a problem. The noble Earl, Lord Cathcart, asked about an enforcement officer working under one regime perhaps being contacted by a devolved Administration, or spotting inappropriate or what he perceives to be unlawful activity and what he can do about it. My understanding is that if that officer had been cross-warranted by one of the devolved Administrations, that officer will be able to act. That goes back to our previous debate and shows the benefit of cross-warranting. As far as possible, we are ensuring a joined-up, coherent approach to enforcement.