Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I have tabled Amendment 100 in order to draw the Minister out a little further on something he said in Committee. Indeed, one hopes it will meet with similar success. He gave the impression that the power to make an exemption under Clause 71 was subject to the criteria under Clause 66; the appropriate authority has to have regard to protecting the environment and so on. I would welcome a little more clarification on how that is to happen. The two chapters appear to have been drafted completely separately with no obvious crossover. Obviously, we would want to be certain that no exemptions are granted that would have a significant environmental impact. Clause 71 seems to give authorities the power to exempt a damaging activity on the quiet in the hope of avoiding having to register it and admit to the damage they had permitted. Amendments 101 and 107 relate to the noting of exempted licences on the register. I understand that the Government are consulting on the matter, and quite rightly. They are concerned that planning a burden of registering activities that are exempted precisely because they are harmless and very small scale could place a disproportionate burden on some very small businesses. While we would certainly not want to increase the regulatory burden and are very pleased at the harmonisation that is happening in the Bill, if exemptions are used irresponsibly by the appropriate authority, the register could end up with some very worrying holes. Will there be any sort of assessment by the authority as to whether it would be wise to include an exempted activity on the register? It is not just the possibility of exempting environmentally damaging activities, which I covered in talking to my first amendment, it is also the possibility of exempting activities which would have an impact on another activity where it would be wise to keep tabs on what is happening in the environment. I would welcome any reassurances the Minister can give us that exemptions will be used wisely and that there will be some check on their abuse. I beg to move.