Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the noble Baroness for raising this matter. She is right to focus on enforcement and ensuring that sufficient enforcement powers are available, particularly in light of IFCAs’ new responsibilities. It is an important point. We want all officers, including those working for IFCAs, to have available to them a more streamlined, modernised and coherent set of powers. The single set of core powers in the Bill replaces powers in numerous existing Acts, including, as the noble Baroness suggested, Section 8 of the Sea Fisheries Act 1968. Since the new core set of common powers will enable an officer of an inshore fisheries and conservation authority to perform all of its functions in the marine area, the authorities will not need to rely on the 1968 Act powers, since it would be pure duplication. As the noble Baroness suggested, we have not carried over the power of a constable because it is outdated and SFC officers simply do not currently use it. My understanding is that they do not foresee using it. However, they are not without the ability to take action where required. IFC officers will instead have a power to stop and detain persons suspected of an offence. This will be particularly useful in shore-based regulation such as recreational fishing or nature conservation offences. This is because these types of offences are often committed on or close to shore where the power to stop and detain may be necessary. On the question of "hot pursuit" raised by the noble Duke, my understanding is that hot pursuit means pursuing a vessel or vehicle from within the district where an offence is believed to have been committed to an area outside an IFCA’s jurisdiction. In this clause, hot pursuit of a vessel or vehicle into Scotland can take place when an offence has been committed within an IFC district. A power to engage in hot pursuit will obviously be useful on occasions where a vessel or vehicle moves out of a district in which they committed an offence in the hope that they will escape possible prosecution. Hot pursuit can be carried out on water or on land and applies to vessels or vehicles. This power applies only to Scotland, because in adjoining IFC districts and Wales, IFC officers will have powers to enforce without relying on powers of hot pursuit. I hope that that deals with this matter.