Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I shall speak also to Amendment 22. A number of amendments were tabled on Report with the aim of ensuring that the Marine Management Organisation’s role in relation to applications to the Infrastructure Planning Commission is enshrined in primary legislation, rather than secondary legislation as the Government had intended. Noble Lords will recall that at the end of debate on Report I undertook, given the importance of the arguments made, to take the matter away to see whether we could come up with alternative amendments that would appropriately reflect the MMO’s important role in making representations to the IPC. The amendments that we have brought forward today are designed to reflect the MMO’s role at three stages in the Planning Act process: first, the pre-application stage when a developer is considering putting in an application for development consent to the IPC; secondly, notification that an application has been accepted by the IPC for examination; and lastly, the examination process itself. Since it is important that the MMO, as a key player in the marine regulatory environment, is made aware of all proposals which could impact on the marine area, we are amending Section 42 of the Planning Act so that developers must consult the MMO on any proposed development that would or would be likely to affect the marine area. The MMO will therefore be made aware of, and have the opportunity to input and comment on, such proposals at an early stage. Secondly, we are amending Section 56 of the Planning Act to ensure that the MMO is formally notified of any accepted applications in the marine area. Thirdly, we are amending Section 102 of the Planning Act to make the MMO an interested party where the IPC has accepted an application in the marine area. The amendment to Section 102 ensures that the MMO is involved throughout the examination of those applications and that therefore it will have a key role in advising on any necessary marine licences which the IPC will deem as part of any consent issues. A consequential minor amendment is made in my Amendment 22 to Schedule 8 so that the descriptions of the various marine areas we are inserting into the Planning Act are consistent with the existing language in that Act. In addition, the new clause we are inserting into Chapter 4 of Part 1 requires the Secretary of State to give guidance to the MMO on the kinds of representations it may make under Parts 5 and 6 of the Planning Act. Given that both the IPC and the MMO will be newly established bodies which must work closely together on marine related developments in order to carry out their respective roles, we consider it appropriate to place a duty on the Secretary of State to issue guidance to the MMO on its role in relation to development projects subject to IPC consent. This guidance will clarify how the MMO will need to use its marine expertise; for example, to inform licence conditions, make representations on the marine parts of coastal projects, and ensure that proper enforcement can take place. This is in addition to the general guidance which the Secretary of State can give to the MMO under Clause 37, such as on enforcement and planning. In our debates since Committee and on the Planning Bill there has been considerable interest in the respective roles of the MMO and the IPC. All noble Lords have a desire to ensure that the two bodies should work together and be seen to do so. We are confident that these amendments are an appropriate reflection of the key role the MMO will have as a centre of marine expertise and the enforcement body for the majority of marine consents in advising both developers and the IPC on major infrastructure projects in the marine area. I beg to move.