Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I support my noble friend’s amendments. All of us around the Committee are agreed that there must be greater urgency in this section of the Bill, and that ““may”” should be changed to ““must””. I hope at the very least that the Minister will satisfy us in that way. I appreciate that my noble friend’s amendment states that 2012 should be the date by which arrangements should be put in place. I lean a little towards the more ““reasonable”” timeframe in the amendment of the noble Baroness, Lady Young of Old Scone, which may be more appropriate. If the Minister is unable to accept the 2012 deadline, there may be a good reason why not. I was intrigued by the noble Baroness’s scenario of, ““There are no plans here—let’s get on with it, boys””. It was genuinely meant and it underlines some of the problems we face in this part of the Bill. We seek clarification on that. I hope that the Minister will not just say, ““We want to remain flexible””, because throughout the Bill some of us, while accepting that it needs areas of flexibility, have been concerned that it is so flexible that there is nothing solid there at all. That would fail the hopes and aspirations that people have for this Bill. I look forward to the Minister’s response.