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Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I also wish to thank the Minister for explaining his amendments in such a succinct fashion, especially on the back of the very comprehensive briefing that he gave us, which I picked up in my post yesterday afternoon. I am also grateful to him for admitting that it is a complex group, but I am glad to respond because it touches on an area that has exercised my mind since we first began considering the Bill. How far are we aware of what powers are devolved to which Administration, and will all the authorities find clear definition of where they are allowed to exercise authority in the future? Certainly, this group of amendments is a good attempt to address that. Amendment 75A, which is put in more or less as a consequential amendment, is pretty far-reaching. Every marine authority drawing up its plan will have to state where it sees retained functions being involved. Will that be subject to review by the Secretary of State as part of the approval process? Will the list be confined to retained functions within marine legislation, FEPA legislation and renewable energy legislation or will it have to take in the overarching areas of retained functions such as defence, marine shipping and minerals? It is very appropriate that this area should be subject to fairly detailed clarification in the Bill, as most of those who have spoken have mentioned. I am glad that it has been in the hands of proper parliamentary draftsmen, as I am not sure anyone else could have battled their way through all the different bits of devolved legislation that are necessarily hard for us to follow. Perhaps once these provisions are in the Bill, those with a sharper brain than mine will see whether there are areas that need tidying up. I am glad that the Government have addressed the question of where the powers lie for any authority that withdraws from a marine policy statement. I think the Minister is aware of my misgivings about the possibility that an authority might not bother to withdraw but simply ignores the directions that are contained within the relevant marine plan. He tried to reassure me about that in Committee. Otherwise, I am much encouraged by the group of amendments.