Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I thank the Minister for his comments, and I thank all noble Lords who have supported the amendment. It is very clear to me, as it is not at all clear in the Bill, that there is considerable interest in getting the references correct and in making it absolutely clear—in a way that the noble Lord has made in his statement just now—that these issues of cultural heritage and the historic environment are included in the Bill. Before I refer in detail to some of the other issues that have been raised, I must apologise to the noble Lord, Lord Tyler, because I had understood that his Amendment 106CA might be grouped with our Amendment 106C, which introduces the concept of seascapes. Therefore, I did not make any comment on it. It must have been recently added to the group. That means that we will have another bite of the cherry and that we will be able to return to this aspect at a later stage. I am grateful for all the support that has been shown. The argument about the heritage protection Bill, which is over beyond the horizon somewhere, is not satisfactory or sufficient to cover the importance of the issues that we have been discussing. I have always worked on the principle that a bird in the hand has to be aimed for, and here we have a perfectly appropriate Bill in which these provisions could perfectly appropriately be included. As my noble friend Lady Byford said earlier, people are now kicking themselves that, when the Countryside and Rights of Way Act went through your Lordships’ House in 2000, the marine references were not included. Now, nine years later, in spite of assurances, they are still not apparent anywhere. It is not particularly helpful to put our faith in a Bill which may well be wonderful when it comes about, but on which even the Minister was very clear that it would come only ““in due course””. That could mean anything; not soon, not in the near future; nothing at all helpful or hopeful. I am glad to hear that the marine policy statement will include explicit references to marine heritage and to the historic importance of various sites and objects on our coastline, and I look forward to hearing a bit more about that. The issue of statutory consultees was not adequately covered. The noble Lord, Lord Howarth, in speaking to the amendment, made the position perfectly clear and, in questioning the Minister, asked for further help, and did not get it. An organisation such as English Heritage has a special status. It is not just an interested person or body. It may well be that ““statutory consultee”” is not a felicitous term; perhaps we should find some other way of describing them. There has to be some way in which we can get this very important requirement in the Bill, to give comfort to those who are interested in this issue and who wish to play their part fully, to ensure that their role is not overlooked. I am not entirely happy with the Minister’s response on this occasion. I said at the outset that these were probing amendments, so, although I am a bit tempted, I am not going to test the feeling of the Committee on this occasion. I feel sure that, given the interest and wide support, we will return to these issues. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment 89L withdrawn. Amendments 89LA to 89LC not moved. Clause 52 agreed. Amendment 89M not moved.