Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I beg to move Amendment 78 and will speak also to Amendment 79, but not at any length on either. I will probably demonstrate that, helpful as I have found the Minister’s letter, I have still not got to grips with the devolution aspects of the Bill. The first of my amendments is to paragraph 3(2) of Schedule 6, where we are told that: ""The marine plan authority for –""(a) the English inshore region, or""(b) the Welsh inshore region,""must also take all reasonable steps to secure that any marine plan for a marine plan area … is compatible with the relevant Planning Act plan for any area in England, Wales or Scotland"." My amendment would add a further reference to Scotland, because I seek to understand how this paragraph works. I am certainly not trying to interfere with the devolution settlement. I wrote down a number of possibilities as to what it might mean, and I have crossed out most of them in my notes; I do not want to demonstrate my ignorance absolutely and totally. I wondered whether it was because of the reference to adjoining and adjacent areas in the next sub-paragraph, but I would be grateful if the Minister explains how paragraph 3(2) operates as regards Scotland. Amendment 79 would take out the words "all reasonable steps". Taking all reasonable steps to ensure compatibility, by definition, raises the issue of conflict and begs the question: what if they are not compatible?