Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

The noble Lord, Lord Greenway, must tread carefully. He will remember that I have had to answer a few questions on how cameras work and whether they are revenue raising, and he will recall how much I denied that assertion. Local authorities were not beneficiaries as regards that form of transport. The Government agree with the noble Lord that the capital expenditure involved in the purchase of a patrol boat is substantial. The limited additional resources that the conservation authorities can get from permits should not to be posited as a possible fund from which capital expenditures of such magnitude could ever be envisaged. That is why I return to the Government’s position that funding is the responsibility of the local authorities.