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Flood and Water Management Bill

I am not sure that at this stage of a Parliament personal flattery will do the noble Lord any good. Nevertheless, I agree with him. Both clauses are written in such a way that the organisations concerned can work in tandem and engage with each other. It is clear that successful schemes will in any case have to be done on the basis of a great deal of local consultation and discussion, even if there is not absolute agreement at the end of the day. The noble Baroness said that many of the schemes would be on relatively poor land from a farming point of view, particularly those where conservation—the habitats directive—is the driving force behind them. Nevertheless, we all know that if sea levels rise as some—or, I think, most—of us think they will, there will be serious problems of coastal erosion, particularly on parts on the east coast of England. In some of those areas, where it may well be thought desirable for managed coastal retreat to take place, the land affected is agricultural land of high quality and value. There is no getting away from that. Such schemes, when introduced, might well have beneficial effects for wildlife and so on, but will certainly not have beneficial effects for the farming industry and agricultural production of this country. Under those circumstances, the view that has been put forward by the noble Baroness—that everything in the garden is rosy and the Environment Agency will be seen as a wholly benevolent organisation that is not thuggish—will just not be the case. There will be a great deal of heated debate because there are and will be important vested interests on all sides. However, if it is thought necessary and in the wider national interest for that kind of managed coastal retreat to take place, there is an argument that, in some circumstances, the Environment Agency probably has to be the lead body. Getting local consensus will be almost impossible. There are interesting discussions to be had and interesting arguments on both sides.