Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Baroness for agreeing that the government amendments meet the main objective of Amendment 83 and of the discussion that we had in Committee on this matter. On that basis, of course, the Government are pleased that the amendments will be supported and that it is felt that Amendment 83 is not essential. The noble Lord, Lord Wallace, will recognise that the government amendments relate to scrutiny of the marine plans; that is the area that we are considering. It will be appreciated that the government amendments fulfil the concern that was expressed about the time that legislatures would have for this effective scrutiny. The original drafting of the Bill looked to have unduly curtailed that time and we have now made provision to go beyond the public consultation period and for the authorities to make up their own minds on the amount of time that they need for effective scrutiny. I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, will recognise the fact that that is the framework within which the government amendments have been tabled; they are a response to that debate in Committee. I should make it clear that we are talking about the scrutiny of the marine policy statement. That is where the legislatures will have sufficient time for proper consideration of the statement. We never intended to restrict that. It was pointed out to us that the way in which the Bill was framed produced a restriction on the time; we are taking that away. The legislatures will make up their own minds about the scrutiny process and the time that they require. I hope therefore that the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, will recognise that these amendments have responded to what was the heart of the debate in Committee. Amendment 64 agreed.