Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, this highly important debate is probably an appropriate one on which to conclude this evening. I am grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Greaves; I know that there have been concerns, at various stages of debating its different aspects, that the language of the Bill does not, perhaps, reflect our vision. We dealt with that on our first day on Report, particularly in the debates on Clause 2. I acknowledge what the noble Lord, Lord Greaves, said about the documents that we produce, which he thinks are an emerging vision. Clearly, a lot of that is work in progress and many of those are draft documents. I hope that they are, indeed, helping to convince stakeholders that the Government are serious, which we are about taking this forward when it comes to MCZs. We see the contribution of MCZs as being very important to the health of our marine environment. Amendment 112, on the designation process, requires "the appropriate authority" to "consult any public body". We believe that is covered by Clause 116(4), which sets out that: ""The appropriate authority must consult any persons … likely to be interested in, or affected by, the making of"," an order. Any public body exercising a marine plan function will clearly have an interest in a site designation, as it affects the marine plan and must be factored into planning. I hope that I can reassure the noble Lord on that point. I turn to Amendment 113ZA, tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Kingsland and Lord Taylor, which seeks to strengthen the reference to science and, most importantly, scientific evidence in the designation of marine conservation zones. Science is clearly important in determining where we will designate sites. Clause 114(1) ensures that scientific criteria form the basis of site proposals, setting out specific grounds for designating marine conservation zones, including the number and diversity of, ""marine flora or fauna … marine habitats … and features of geological or geomorphologic interest"." I want to make it clear that Clause 114 has been drafted so that science must, by necessity, form the basis of site proposals. I am certain that the number or diversity of marine fauna and flora could not be determined without scientific advice; I have had categorical advice on that point. I do not believe, then, that Clause 114 needs to include a specific reference to science. However, the noble Lord, Lord Kingsland, has invited me to come to his support on the use of "opinion"—and I feel that I must, because we debated this on our first day on Report and, as I said then, the use of "opinion" is not deemed to be any old opinion. It is simply a reflection that, on many scientific matters, there will be varying opinions, all of which may very well be valid and need to be considered. Although I do not agree with the noble Lord’s amendment, the use of "opinion" is entirely acceptable. We then come to Amendment 110D, in the name of the noble Baroness, Lady Young. She said, at the beginning, that she proposed this anticipating another amendment that she thought might come, seeking to strengthen subsection (7). Although that has not come, it reflects a continuing debate about the balance to be drawn around MCZs between conservation needs and relevant socio-economic interests. That balance runs through many parts of the Bill. We are all trying to get the balance right. I thought the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, was absolutely right: while it is perfectly possible to disagree with the noble Baroness, the debate is very important. I reassure the noble Baroness that the fundamental basis for designating marine conservation zones will be the science supporting conservation. The Bill allows us to factor in the impacts of designation on other interests at a slightly earlier stage in the process. It ensures that we have a flexible system which gives us the best chance of delivering conservation policies in the context of our wider marine policies. We wish to provide significant protection for some areas of our seas. I have just set out how the drafting of Clause 114 specifically requires marine conservation zones to be proposed based on scientific evidence, and science will clearly be important in decisions regarding the designation of the network. The science will be the first consideration in all designations. In some cases the need for conservation must prevail but, at the very least, we should take decisions in the knowledge of the likely impacts. That is why, in implementing the Bill, Ministers will expect an impact assessment to accompany each proposal for designation. In some cases we will have more options. In designating a representative site, for example, we will often have more choice of potential locations and we will need to consider the size and shape of a marine conservation zone. In such circumstances, it would be sensible to take account of socio-economic considerations in deciding where a site, or group of sites, should be designated. Such considerations will be relevant. We are establishing regional and national project groups, involving interested parties to make recommendations on proposed sites. We also want all those with an interest to feed in their views. That will ensure that we take account of all the relevant considerations when designating sites and setting their conservation objectives. The noble Baroness invited me to endorse my own briefing note on Part 5. I have given agonising consideration to that matter and I am glad to confirm that I endorse it. It is implicit that the appropriate authority must make such a decision based primarily on scientific evidence; otherwise, it would not be exercising its duty in a reasonable way. Social and economic factors are optional secondary considerations. I believe that that is reflected in the drafting of the Bill. I hope that noble Lords will accept that we have reached a very sensible balanced outcome.