Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

This has been an interesting and helpful debate. The Government will of course reflect on the views expressed as we take forward—assuming the legislation is passed—the establishment of the MMO board. I also take this opportunity to inform Members of the Committee of the timing of the board’s appointment and the process whereby that will be undertaken. I understand from the opening remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, that some of these amendments are probing amendments. First, board members will be appointed by the Secretary of State in line with the Commissioner for Public Appointments’ code of practice and in line with the Nolan principles. Because we wish to establish the MMO as quickly as possible after the legislation has been enacted, we plan to appoint what has been described as a skeleton body for the MMO consisting of a chairman, chief executive and board. That would allow it to focus on the preparation and establishment of the organisation, working with the Government to establish its framework including its structure, governance arrangements and financial systems, and agreeing objectives, targets, performance measures, resources and all the things that come with being a non-departmental public body. The hope would be to make appointments in autumn 2009. At the pace we are going today, that might prove to be a departmental autumn, but we must hope that that will not be the case. The aim is essentially that the skeleton body will have been in place for approximately six months before the vesting of the MMO in April 2010. We have had an interesting debate on the numbers of ordinary MMO board members to be appointed. As Members of the Committee will know, the Bill allows a range of five to eight members in addition to the chair. If I included all the various interests and considerations that noble Lords have expressed this afternoon, we would probably already have reached a board of 20 or more. On the other hand, the noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy, has put it very well. The calibre required of those who will have to exercise their judgment when faced with all the pressures and interests wishing to influence the MMO indicates that one would ideally have a small board. I am sure that those of us with experience of public bodies will have worked on both small and larger boards. I accept the point of the noble Baroness, Lady Young, but, in the main, smaller boards work more effectively. That is why we went for the range of five to eight. There is a range rather than a specified number because it is normal practice when setting up a new organisation to specify the approximate number of members that should comprise its board. However, there must be a minimum number for it to operate effectively and have sufficient breadth of expertise and skills. It is envisaged that the MMO board should comprise eight ordinary members plus a chair.