Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I shall speak also to government Amendments 20 and 21. The first two amendments ensure that the Bill works effectively with the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill, presently undergoing scrutiny in the other place. Paragraph 1 of Schedule 6 to the Bill requires a marine plan authority to notify a number of "related planning authorities" when it begins to prepare a marine plan. One of these related planning authorities is a terrestrial authority responsible for planning at a regional level. Currently, that is the regional planning authority defined under Section 2 of the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004. The House will, of course, be aware of the proposals in the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill to replace regional planning bodies with responsible regional authorities that comprise a local authority leaders’ board and the regional development agency. We therefore need to update the reference in the Bill to ensure that it continues to operate effectively once the Local Democracy, Economic Development and Construction Bill completes its parliamentary passage and comes into force. I hope that the House will support these minor changes to paragraph 1. The final amendment in this group, Amendment 21, is in response to the promise we made on Report to consider an amendment tabled by the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee. It required a marine plan authority to consider the extent to which matters raised in its representations have been resolved when deciding whether to appoint an independent investigator. At the time, her amendment was commended from the Dispatch Box because it reflected our intention that this should be one of the key factors in determining whether an independent investigation should be held. The Government have therefore tabled Amendment 21, which addresses this very point, although in slightly different terminology. It requires the marine plan authority to consider the extent to which any issues raised during the public consultation on the marine plan remain unresolved following the consultation and, therefore, should inform the decision to appoint an investigator. I beg to move. Amendment 19 agreed.