Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

That is a very interesting suggestion. I am not sure that Natural England has it in mind to run ferries, although when the Environment Agency took over Thames Conservancy, it acquired a number of boats that used to chug up and down the river. I can see what the noble Lord is getting at. What I would have thought is that Natural England and its allies and partners in the local authorities would want to take advantage of the coastal access provisions in order to encourage greater access by public transport. We have been thinking mainly about bus services, but if the provisions of this Bill lead to local authorities thinking carefully about ferry provisions and if that leads them to talk to local businesses and to encourage the provision of more ferry journeys, surely that is a wholly positive outcome and shows why we think that these coastal access provisions could have a positive impact on local amenities and businesses.