Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, it might be helpful if I respond briefly to the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, and then speak to my own amendments in this group. I think I can give the word that the noble Lord is seeking; I think it is "yes" and I am happy to say that. The noble Lord is also right to say that the amendments we have tabled, particularly those on the appointment of a chief scientific adviser and my commitment that the MMO will establish a scientific advisory committee, in themselves go a long way towards meeting the point he is making. We expect the MMO to forge good and active relations with many of the centres of scientific excellence. Those include—there is always a danger in listing only some of them but I will take the risk today because I want to make this point to the noble Lord—the Plymouth Marine Sciences Partnership, the National Oceanography Centre, the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, or CEFAS, the Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory and Newcastle University School of Marine Science and Technology, to name a few. All of those organisations and others are staffed by experts in the field of marine research. I would expect the MMO to have a robust approach to commissioning research from organisations that are appropriately qualified, with people who are qualified and best able to make a contribution. I hope the noble Lord is happy with those assurances. I turn now to my Amendment 48 to Clause 23. Noble Lords will recall that in Committee we had a very interesting discussion about the MMO’s power to undertake research. Some noble Lords were concerned that, as currently drafted, subsection (2) would require the MMO to disclose all results of research to any person on request, including those results that may be of a sensitive nature and the disclosure of which could have unwanted implications. I have reflected on those concerns and tabled Amendment 48 to address them. Let me make it clear that, as a non-departmental public body, the MMO should make available to the public as much information as possible and that it is required to have a publication scheme under the Freedom of Information Act. We intend the MMO to act in an open and transparent manner. It is entirely appropriate that the MMO should make available the results of any research that it undertakes. My department has a publication scheme for research projects, the results of which are publicly available on the departmental website. The way in which the MMO operates should be no different from that at all. However, while we want the MMO to make as much information as possible publicly available, there might be occasions when it is not appropriate to disclose the results of research. In Committee noble Lords instanced some of those occasions. For example, they might arise because information includes personal data or, as the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, suggested earlier, because the information is commercially sensitive or affects British interests. In such cases the MMO might reasonably wish to keep the information confidential. It would be possible to keep this type of information confidential under an exemption from the Freedom of Information Act 2000 or an exception from the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. I accept that that is not explicit in the clause as drafted. As a result, I have decided that it would be appropriate to bring Amendment 48 to your Lordships so that it tightens the clause to make it clear that any requirement for the MMO to make available its results or research would be subject to any exemptions or exceptions under two pieces of access to information legislation, namely the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004. The MMO would also not have to disclose information that was prohibited from disclosure under any other Act in the future. I should say clearly again that, having tabled this amendment in light of the concerns expressed in Committee, our overall stance is that the MMO will wish to make as much information as possible publicly available, and we will make sure that it happens. This is a sensible amendment in light of the concerns expressed by noble Lords in Committee. I hope it finds favour with your Lordships.