Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The amendment shows an interesting approach by the noble Lord. While at first sight the strict wording does not exactly fit the spirit of co-operation with which the Government insist that the marine policy statement be approached, it serves as a useful amendment to probe the Government on what elements the marine policy statement will contain and whether biodiversity will be one of them. The Scottish Administration, in their consultation paper to which the noble Lord referred, Sustainable Seas for All, are a little more forthcoming than the Minister has found himself able to be with the Committee. They say: "““The United Kingdom Government and Devolved Administrations have worked together to set out a number of high level marine objectives which articulate the outcomes they are seeking””." The objectives are set out in sections that reflect the five principles of sustainable development. It would be immensely helpful to the Committee if the Minister would make these available in their current form, even if they are not fully developed. If he cannot do so, the Committee would be helped by some explanation. The amendment raises the possible necessity of the devolution of legislative powers, as the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, explained. We would be interested to know how the Government expect such a thing could be achieved, if not by this amendment. I am sure that Scotland has all the powers that it needs over the Scottish inshore region. Can the Minister explain to the Committee whether the Food and Environment Protection Act 1985 contains all the powers that the Government consider necessary for the protection of biodiversity, and whether that is the mechanism that they expect Scottish Ministers to use? If not, what legislation would be required to ensure that the powers of the Act would extend to the offshore region administered by Scottish Ministers? This does not appear to be contained in any legislation emanating directly from the Scotland Act. It appears that all Administrations taking up this process have adopted the general slogan that we aim for, "““clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse””" oceans and seas. That is set out in the government paper, Safeguarding our Seas. However, that is too general an aim and one would like specific details.