Richard Benyon (Shadow Minister, Environment, Food & Rural Affairs; Newbury, Conservative)

I would like to echo the Minister’s welcome to you, Mr. Gale, and look forward to your help and guidance throughout this process. As he said, there have been lengthy discussions on the Bill in another place, but I hope that the programme motion will allow us to tease out a few key areas of debate to improve the Bill. For many people who have contacted us, the key aspect is the establishment of marine conservation zones and the nature conservation elements in the Bill. We obviously welcome some changes made in another place, such as the inclusion of the words “ecologically coherent”, if not in the Bill itself, then in the statement laid before the House. Such changes are most welcome, but there are areas where we need time to clarify just how those conservation zones will be achieved and in what time scale. There are many other aspects of the Bill that we will cover in the meat of our debates, as the Minster said.

We have concerns about the provisions on coastal access, although not about the principle of achieving greater access to coastal Britain, on which there is much agreement. We will be seeking time to secure a better balance in certain areas. We will seek clarification on privacy, liability and biosecurity. We have introduced  and will continue to introduce a range of amendments: some probing, some seeking to underline and secure concessions in another place, and others to make more fundamental changes to the Bill. As I said on Second Reading, we seek, in all cases, to adopt an attitude of co-operation and consensus, as was the case in another place. There will be times when we will not agree but, let us be frank, if the marine part of the Bill were to go on to the statute book today it would be a giant leap forward in marine conservation and would create a framework to address an area of our environment that has waited too long for the protection it deserves.

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