Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Minister and to other noble Lords who have taken part in this debate. I share the disappointment of my noble friend Lord Livsey of Talgarth, because, although a lot of good will has been expressed, it has not been taken that extra bit further and translated into putting the proposals into the Bill. As everyone recognises, the amendments would not get in the way of anything. Indeed, if there was a conflict or problem, they would ensure that there was a requirement for co-operation. You do not need that if there is no difficulty, but the amendments would take care of those circumstances where there was a difficulty and where co-operation and consultation were necessary. I thank the Minister for explaining in more detail the set-up for ensuring that we cover the whole of the United Kingdom’s waters through the various Administrations. It is no small achievement that the four Administrations have reached this agreement. I am sure that, in all Parliaments and Assemblies, we will want to ensure that we put in place the right statutory mechanisms to take that forward. I will not dwell on this point, because I have raised it with the Minister outwith the Chamber, and there may be other opportunities. However, I still have a concern. The Minister confirmed to the noble Duke, the Duke of Montrose, that marine planning in the offshore region will be done by way of executive devolution. My concern is for the marine Bill that comes before the Scottish Parliament. I will take a simple example, which there will be an opportunity to debate later. There will be a duty on public bodies in Scotland to promote biodiversity in inshore waters. However, the Scottish Parliament cannot make that requirement; Scottish Ministers cannot put that into a plan for the offshore region, because the Scottish Parliament does not have the legislative capacity to do that. This House and the other place may have to pass the legislation. There is a potential gap here, which we should examine, perhaps in a later amendment. There is another point that I would like the Minister to respond to if he can. When drafting the amendment, I deliberated on whether to make any reference to the Scottish inshore area. The noble and learned Lord, Lord Cameron of Lochbroom, gave cogent reasons why it is necessary to do so. I am influenced by the fact that the MMO area defined in Clause 2(2) refers to, "““those parts of the UK marine area, or of the United Kingdom, where MMO functions are exercisable””." So far as I can see, the ““UK marine area”” as defined in Clause 40 does not appear to exclude the Scottish inshore area, although many other clauses expressly do so. That takes us back to the argument that it could be excluded by way of MMO functions in that those functions are not exercisable in the inshore area, but the fact that there is no express exclusion in the clause has made me wonder whether there are any functions for the MMO here. I shall give one example. For the past two or three years, and certainly in the last year during which I was in the Scottish Parliament, a recurring controversy arose over ship-to-ship oil transhipments in the Firth of Forth. The activity generated a considerable amount of debate. I recall that one of the explanations that Scottish Ministers had to give to the Scottish Parliament was that, as I recall, the licensing of such activities lies with UK Government Ministers at Westminster. The Firth of Forth is clearly in Scottish inshore waters. My question is this: are there functions exercised by UK Ministers related to Scottish inshore waters that may be transferred to the MMO which we have not yet picked up? It would be unfortunate if we discovered that some functions that are reserved to UK Ministers nevertheless relate to Scottish inshore waters. If the Minister cannot answer now, perhaps he will write to me and to other noble Lords.