Clause 7
Marine and Coastal Access Bill [Lords]
Public Bill Committees, 2 July 2009, 3:00 pm
Ann McKechin (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Scotland Office; Glasgow North, Labour)
I beg to move amendment 20, in clause 7, page 6, line 6, leave out from ‘read,’ to ‘under’ in line 7 and insert
‘in relation to the exercise by the MMO of functions’.
The effect of this amendment would be that, in certain regulations, references to (or which include a reference to) the Secretary of State would be read, in relation to the exercise of functions anywhere by the MMO, as references to, or as including a reference to, the MMO instead.
Clause 7 is supplementary to clauses 4 and 6, which transfer to the MMO the Secretary of State’s functions of granting licences for fishing boats under the Sea Fish (Conservation) Act 1967. It follows accordingly that when regulations have been made under the 1967 Act setting out the procedures for granting fishing boat licences, any references to the Secretary of State in those regulations are to be treated as references to the MMO. That is to ensure that the newly-created MMO has all the legal powers to carry out functions previously undertaken by the Secretary of State through the MFA. Clause 7 currently provides for any reference to the Secretary of State in those regulations to be read as references to the MMO, specifically where the MMO exercises functions under the 1967 Act. That is not quite correct, because the point here is the exercise of functions by the MMO, rather than the area where it exercises functions. The MMO may, for example, exercise functions in relation to English fishing boats wherever they may be. This minor and technical amendment accordingly makes it clear that references to the MMO should be specifically linked to the exercise of its functions rather than to geographical areas. I urge the Committee to support the amendment.