Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I shall also speak to Amendments 76 and 78. I am sure that my noble friend Lord Livsey of Talgarth will wish to speak to the odd-numbered amendments—Amendments 75, 77 and 79—which are the Welsh equivalents. We have heard from the noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy, that a devolution thread weaves its way through the Bill, but it is not always easy to pick it out. The purpose of the amendments is to get more clarity on the MMO and devolution. The amendments would place an obligation on the Secretary of State to consult Scottish Ministers along with the MMO before giving directions under subsections (1) and (2) of Clause 35. Amendment 74 would add the provision about Scottish Ministers to the end of subsection (3), so, although such consultation would not be required if some emergency arose, good practice might require that they still be consulted. Amendment 76 would apply a statutory requirement to consult Scottish Ministers before the Secretary of State issued guidance to the MMO. I shall deal with Amendment 78 separately. It is not just any consultee that we are discussing or any body that the Secretary of State thinks appropriate. The amendment would oblige the Secretary of State to consult Scottish Ministers, who have an elected mandate and who, from what has already been said about this Bill and parallel legislation to be published shortly in the Scottish Parliament, expect to act in partnership to try to achieve similar goals. I tried to anticipate the Minister’s response on past form, not least his response to the amendment moved by my noble friend Lord Livsey on my behalf on our first day in Committee. The Minister then indicated that he was not willing to agree to the MMO report being laid before the Scottish Parliament, on the basis that the MMO would be delivering functions on behalf of Her Majesty’s Government and would in the main be involved with marine functions in waters around England, as many of these functions are already devolved to the respective Administrations in Scotland and Wales. The amendment would not require blanket consultation but would come into effect only if there was a direction or guidance in relation to Scottish inshore or offshore regions. It is clear from Clause 313(4)(a) that Part 1 of the Bill, dealing with the MMO, will extend to Scotland, so it would be useful if the Minister could give some clarity on the specific functions that the MMO will exercise in relation to Scottish waters. When the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, moved the previous amendment, he mentioned international law and the right of innocent passage; if my memory serves me correctly, the transit through the Pentland Firth is such a right recognised in international law. There are, of course, important renewable energy developments planned for the Pentland Firth and, potentially, some conflict—or, at least, the need to liaise—between a requirement or function that the MMO might, on behalf of the UK Government, exercise on general shipping matters under international law and functions related to renewable energy that were being exercised by Scottish Ministers. Therefore, getting proper co-ordination would seem very important. We are told that Marine Scotland, which is intended to be the parallel organisation to the MMO, will deliver marine functions in Scottish territorial matters and, in respect of devolved matters, in the offshore area. Can the Minister give greater clarification on what the MMO will be delivering in terms of non-devolved functions in that area? What are these functions? Do they, for example, include nature conservation, the exploitation of hydrocarbons or the marine transport to which I referred? It would be useful to get a better understanding of that. Also, if the MMO will be exercising quite important functions in the Scottish offshore area—and, possibly, the Scottish inshore area—that underlines the importance of ensuring that there is co-ordination and that, when the Secretary of State intends to issue directions or guidance, there has been prior consultation with Scottish Ministers to ensure co-operation. A good fit between what both Administrations are doing would be in the interests of comity, as would Amendment 78. As things stand—and here we move forward to Clause 38—on an interim basis the Secretary of State can, as I understand it, requisition the Scottish Parliament or the Scottish Executive to provide the MMO with, "““temporary … staff, premises or other facilities””." Given that the Scotland Act 1998 established the Scottish Parliament and Scottish Executive, I assume that they fall within the definition of a statutory body. It would not really be in the interests of comity for the Secretary of State to do that. Could the Minister clarify that that is not the intention? I beg to move.