Marine and Coastal Access Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am grateful to all noble Lords for their contribution to this short debate on what I regard as largely technical issues. I appreciated the comments made by the noble Lord, Lord Taylor, on the general issues before we moved to other parts of the United Kingdom. I want to reassure the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, that we have concentrated on the Solway Firth for reasons that he knows. That is why the first basis of the agreement is the Solway Firth. However, I am cognisant of the fact that there are other border areas and border waters between England and Scotland. I am able to assure him that work will progress on that and in due course we will have a constructive joint statement on the Solway Firth. The noble Lord, Lord Greaves, is right to point out that a great deal of work needs to be done in the evolution of policy, but we are talking about the Bill as it now stands. These amendments largely give effect to the positions taken up in the other place and in this House. He is right that the Government listened to points about the overall planning position. As regards the Welsh situation, my comments related largely to the transfer of functions. I wanted them to emphasise that we are working in close association with the Welsh Assembly, underpinning the Bill throughout. I accept entirely the point made by the noble Lord, Lord Wallace, because Scotland is addressing these issues separately and making its decisions. There is a necessity for a joint statement on the estuaries. However, Wales is different because we have been working on its position throughout the Bill. I want to assure the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, that he did not miss anything with regard to these amendments. They are merely consequential, following the policy decision involved in the Bill which this House has agreed. The other place has also offered its contributions on that matter and, accordingly, I commend the Motion. Motion agreed. Motion on Amendment 4 Moved by