Clause 1
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
1:15 pm
Huw Irranca-Davies (Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Marine and Natural Environment), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs; Ogmore, Labour)
Thank you for giving me some latitude, Mr. Gale. I will try to be helpful and to bring some clarity.
Following our debate and subsequent vote on Tuesday morning, I have had some time to reflect on the strong views of the Committee on some of the proposals, including those put forward by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton, Test. In response to our discussion about furthering sustainable development, which is material to the clauses we are coming to, he said:
“My hon. Friend makes a strong point about the comparative read-across of wording in the Bill, with other pieces of legislation that have or may not have a bearing on it. Schedule 5, however, is only relevant to the Bill and does not read across to other Acts. An amendment to that schedule, particularly to paragraph 7, could reflect the substance of this amendment. If he tabled such an amendment on Report he might secure a great degree of cross-party support.”——[Official Report, Marine and Coastal Access Public Bill Committee, 30 June 2009; c. 18.]
I can report to the Committee what has happened in the very short period since that debate. An amendment of such scale and potential impact would read across to Whitehall Departments and devolved colleagues—of course this is a UK Bill. On reflection, I am minded to take constructively my hon. Friend’s comments and to work with other Departments, devolved colleagues and members of the Committee in the weeks ahead to try to introduce something on Report that will satisfy my hon. Friend.
We need to make sure that the Bill maintains the right balance. The question surrounding a reporting function on the furthering of sustainable development is important, but placing such a duty on the Marine Management Organisation or making it part of a marine policy statement would risk causing an imbalance among the various interests under the Bill.
Mr. Benyonrose—