New clause 2 - Ministerial guidance as respects
Marine Wildlife Conservation Bill
12:00 pm
Mr Michael Meacher (Minister of State (the Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Oldham West and Royton, Labour)
The best thing is to say that I shall look into that, because it is a technical question. Our intention is not to go in for general codification, but I shall consider the general point made by the hon. Member for Ceredigion and write to him.
I, too, crave your indulgence, Mr. Gale, to respond to a question that was raised on an earlier clause by the hon. Member for Blaby (Mr. Robathan), because this might be the last time that I speak in this Committee. He asked a fair question about the degree of overlap. It is difficult to judge without full assessment of the potential number of MSSIs. We expect a limited overlap with European marine sites, because those are usually designated to protect species and habitats different from those likely to be covered by MSSIs. However, the potential for overlap with coastal SSSIs is greater and requires more consideration.
We are concerned about the question of overlap and want to limit the complexity involved. We shall give full consideration to avoiding the problems that can arise from overlap, but we think that they will be limited. I am grateful for your indulgence, Mr. Gale.