Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, this group of amendments looks rather more like those we discussed in Committee, with several versions of much the same point being tabled by various Peers around the House. I hope that the Minister will appreciate that with these amendments, we are all trying to achieve the same thing: the statutory role of the MMO as an adviser to the IPC for decisions that will impact on the marine area it has responsibility for. I am sure that the drafting of these alternatives could be improved, but it is always tricky to amend previous legislation. However, I hope that the substance is clear. It may be surprising to the Minister that we have returned in such force to this group. After all, we are close to the Government’s own position on the point. In Committee, we tabled much stronger amendments which sought to insist that the MMO should take complete control of these decisions. I hope the Minister will appreciate our search for an acceptable compromise. We still oppose the carve-out of such important decisions from the MMO because that damages not only its position as the principal management body for the marine environment, but also achievement of a consistent policy of sustainable development. In this I believe that I am supported by noble Lords to my right and many outside organisations concerned with the effective implementation of the Government’s marine policy. However, it has been made clear to us that the Government do not intend to move on putting the MMO in overall charge of all planning decisions at sea. Of course, with the numbers in this House we probably could have won the day, but only for a short time, and I have been persuaded that seeking to insist on such a policy, only to see it rejected in another place, would be counterproductive for the smooth passage of a Bill that we are all keen to see made into law. A better option is to seek a compromise amendment which I hope will be more acceptable to all sides of the House. This amendment therefore represents the bare minimum of what we would find acceptable and is not, I believe, very different from the Government’s own intentions. We seek to put in the Bill that the MMO must be a statutory adviser or consultee and that the IPC must not only seek the advice of the MMO, but where its advice and recommendations are not taken, justification for not adopting them must be published. I hope that the Minister will accept the amendment, but if not, that he will be able to come back on Report with his own no doubt better drafted version. I beg to move.