Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, we are the "various Peers" who have tabled the other amendments in the group, although from the minor explosion on the Front Bench, perhaps I should put on the record that we are only to the right of the noble Earl in the geographical sense. The Government have created two big beasts in the IPC and the MMO and it is essential—not a word I use lightly—to ensure that the relationship between them is proper, appropriate and as equal as it can be, given that their responsibilities are not so very different. Our amendments amount to something very similar to that moved by the noble Earl so I do not need to go through the detail, but I will say that we believe that there is a qualitative difference between being a statutory adviser and a statutory consultee. During the passage of what is now the Planning Act, the noble Lord, Lord Taylor of Holbeach, talked about the MMO. I have to say that at the time, while I could understand at a certain level what he was saying, I did not appreciate the deep and instinctive way he put his point forward; I did not understand the depth of it, but I do now. He was absolutely right. I probably said at the time that he was right, but the comments were perhaps less passionate than his. We are very passionate about this because we want to see these systems working well, so these amendments are intended to be genuinely constructive in that they do not seek to obstruct what the Government are doing, and constructive not just in regard to this Bill but also with that which has already been passed; that is, the Planning Act.