Nick Ainger (Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire, Labour)

This is another issue that has been brought to my attention by the Countryside Council for Wales, which is concerned that public authorities could grant consent for an activity that could damage an MCZ. It suggests that the same principles and rules that apply to land-based planning decisions should apply to marine planning decisions. In other words, if a public authority were minded to grant a consent that could directly affect and damage an MCZ, it should have to inform either the UK Minister or a Welsh Assembly Minister, as it would when dealing with a departure from an existing structure plan or whatever in land-based planning.

Secondly, the CCW suggests that there should be a power for the Government or the Welsh Assembly Government to call in such applications. I would be grateful for the Minister’s comments on those ideas. They have merit, because at the end of the day, we rightly restrict the powers of local planning authorities or national parks that are minded to grant a consent that is in breach of their policies on the ground that it is in the wider public interest. We should apply the same restrictions to any public authority that is minded to grant or permit an activity or development that could damage an MCZ. I would be grateful for the Minister’s comments on that proposal.

Huw Irranca-Davies (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Marine and Natural Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Ogmore, Labour)

It may be worth giving an example to illustrate how it might work. “Public authorities” are defined in clause 316, and mean a Minister of the Crown, a public body or a public office holder. For nature conservation, the phrase encompasses local authorities, Government bodies, Government Departments, the MMO and local planning authorities. A concrete example is that it could be necessary in some circumstances for a public authority to carry out certain specific activities that will not further the conservation objections for a MCZ. If a local authority needed to repair a lighthouse in an MCZ with a high level of protection, the necessary work may not further the conservation objectives for the site in the short term, so it is important that the Bill provides for such circumstances.

My hon. Friend the Member for Carmarthen, West and South Pembrokeshire raises an important point: what happens if the public authorities fall short or hinder the conservation objectives? We have included provisions in clause 125 to ensure that public authorities are under a duty to carry out their functions in a way that best furthers the conservation objectives for an MCZ. If the statutory conservation body considers that a public body has failed to comply with the duty, clause 128 provides that the statutory conservation body can request an explanation for the failure from that public authority. Whether it is a local authority or somebody making repairs to a lighthouse, they can be pulled up and asked to explain why, in carrying out their work, they did not do their best to protect the interests of the MCZ.

Nick Ainger (Carmarthen West & South Pembrokeshire, Labour)

I am grateful for the explanation, but it gives me cause for concern, because a local planning authority may be asked to account for a decision but the fact remains that that decision is made and has gone ahead, thereby causing damage to an MCZ. I suggest that before such a decision is implemented, the Welsh Assembly Government, the Scottish Executive or a Government Department should be able, first, to insist that they are notified if there is a departure from conservation objectives and, secondly, to call the decision or application in and hold a public inquiry if they remain concerned. That is the situation under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990. There do not seem to be such provisions in this Bill. My concern, and the concern of the Countryside Council for Wales, is that without those provisions, we may see unnecessary damage to MCZs. It is all very well for the planning authority to have to account for its actions, but such a provision, which exists in land-based planning, should apply to marine planning as well. I am not going to push for a Division on the clause, but I suggest that the Minister take the idea away, look at it and bring something back on Report.