Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

That is a fair question. We have already agreed that the MMO will have access to expert advice, whether on its own books or through—but I do not want to go back to the debate that we had for what seemed an eternity. The MMO will have an extraordinary amount of expertise available to it and will be in a position to give advice to my department, Defra, and to other government departments. Since the MMO will be the licensing authority for the great majority of licensing divisions, acting within the marine plan and the marine policy statement, it will have a hugely influential role. The noble Earl asked what would happen if, in a few years’ time, a view is taken that activity in part of the marine area is doing damage. One would be extremely concerned, because Part 4, which we will come to shortly, lays down explicit circumstances in which the Marine Management Organisation will operate and in which licences will be granted. For example, Clause 66—““Determination of applications””—states that, "““the appropriate licensing authority must have regard to … the need to protect the environment … the need to protect human health … the need to prevent interference with legitimate uses of the sea””." So one would be concerned if, notwithstanding the constraints and protections in the legislation, the cumulative impact of licensing decisions, most of which would have been made by the MMO, was causing the concern that the noble Earl suggests. In those circumstances, I would have thought that the MMO would advise relevant government departments. I have already said that, in relation to the work of the IPC, the MMO will make advice available. There should be no doubt about that. If what had occurred suggested that the NPS and the marine policy statement needed adjustment, there are provisions in the Planning Act and the Bill for them to be made. I have no doubt that the advice of the MMO would be readily available to those organisations. However, that point does not detract from the overall architecture that we have put in place, which states that it is much better for one body to make consents that are deemed to be of national significance than for people to be confused about who should make them and for us to go back to pre-Planning Act problems in relation to planning.