Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

It is being a bit forward to say that the consultation paper at Easter will contain definitive ideas about marine conservation zones. That will be too early. This goes back to ecological coherence and what that means. The first stage is for us to provide guidance in what we describe as a draft marine protected area strategy, which will reflect the Government’s thinking on what we mean by ecological coherence and what the network should look like. That will set out some general principles in which further work will need to be undertaken. The research mentioned by the noble Baroness, Lady Carnegy, will also very much have a bearing on that. The noble Baroness asked a number of questions. First, will we carry people in the devolved Administrations? The discussions held in the past few months have been very warm. My understanding is that we are working closely together on research. Secondly, the noble Baroness asked when the research will become available. Obviously, there are various research projects with different deadlines, but there is no doubt that we hope to have more detailed information coming from some over the next few months. If it would be helpful, I am happy to write to Members of the Committee with an outline of all the research being undertaken and when projects are likely to be completed. That is as far as I can go on the designation of sites.