Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The lists reflect the consultation that we had on the Bill in the crucial areas where by-laws are likely to be made; noble Lords have identified and highlighted certain ones in this debate. I am conscious that in other parts of the Bill we have been somewhat in denial about lists and I have no doubt that I will be upbraided about this. In the case of Part 6, existing legislation, to which I made reference a moment ago—namely, the 1966 Act—will be highly relevant to the work of IFCAs. By-laws made by them will tackle many of the same issues that have been dealt with via by-laws made by SFCs. Indeed, SFCs and IFCAs will be very similar. Consequently, if a specific power is provided in Section 5 of the Act to which I referred a few moments ago but is not included in Clause 152, there is a risk that a court would assume that that was because the power was intended to be excluded, when that is not what we intend. In addition, SFCs have been making fisheries by-laws for decades and the sort of matters that they need to be able to regulate are very well understood. If we know that we will want to exercise a power for a specific purpose, it is sensible to include that specific power, and that is the basis of this list. We know from meetings and consultation with stakeholders that SFCs are strongly in favour of the long list, as it provides real clarity about the extent of their powers. They are especially keen that a specific provision is included to cover permits, including charging and being able to limit the number of permits issued. Therefore, I was not surprised that this matter was identified as being of the highest salience and as causing difficulty in these provisions. It is of great importance and that is why we feel justified in including the long list. However, I hope that noble Lords will accept that we have considered the other matters raised during the debate on these amendments.