Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The only comment I would make back to my noble friend—I shall not pursue it further—is that, in effect, he is saying that the three organisations to which I have referred are presumably not as independent as they would be if their staff had not retained Civil Service status. That is the only inference one can draw from his comment. No doubt that point will be pursued. On the issue of Civil Service conditions, I shall read Hansard with interest because I thought my noble friend said that, if there was a change of status, the staff of the MMO would still have exactly the same rights as they have at the moment if applying for Civil Service jobs; for example, they could apply for the same range of jobs as they can at present. I am not entirely sure that is the case, but I shall need to check that.