Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

Clause 124 provides for identification of the authority and a demand for information. That could mean that the sanction against the authority is naming and shaming—we could expose the fact that it is falling down on its obligations. That is one level of weakness exposed which would be subject to publicly expressed concern. Where the MMO fails to meet its duty with regard to a significant issue on the zones, it is appropriate for us to say that it is not a matter of imposing fines on a body of such significance but a matter for judicial review. I realise that there is not an expression of complete delight in my replies to these issues. They are quite difficult, and I am no lawyer. If it will help, I will undertake to write expressing the Government’s position on the amendment, perhaps more cogently than I have been able to do in this debate.