My Lords, I thank the Minister for his explanation of the order, which I very much welcome. I chaired the joint pre-legislative scrutiny committee on the Marine and Coastal Access Bill. One of the concerns of the committee was the funding of the Marine Management Organisation. That was reinforced during the passage of the Bill through this House. As the Minister said, the Marine Management Organisation is still somewhat underfunded. This is especially so since Defra’s budget was cut. I think that what is proposed here is really a variation on the “user pays” principle. It is absolutely right that the MMO should be able to recover the full costs of varying or monitoring marine licences. In my opinion, the measure is very much to be welcomed. I think the Minister said that the MMO will gain to the tune of £600,000 a year and the taxpayer will be saved from paying that amount.
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