Lord Moylan:

Moved by Lord Moylan

55D: Clause 46, page 57, line 31, leave out “may” and insert “must”

My Lords, I shall be very brief because there are government amendments in this group. Their effect is going to be the same as what I set out to achieve; namely, that it would be interesting to hear what the Government imagine they are going to achieve by making these changes so that we can consider properly what the effect is likely to be. Since the Government are likely to do that themselves in moving their amendments, it is hardly necessary for me to press the point at this stage. I beg to move, and I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say in support of his amendments.

My Lords, government Amendments 56 and 359 relate to Clause 46. Harbour revision and empowerment orders under the Harbours Act 1964 extend or modify ports’ statutory powers. The Marine Management Organisation currently charges fees for harbour orders in England and for the reserved trust port of Milford Haven. Elsewhere in Wales and in Scotland, fees are the responsibility of the devolved Ministers. These fees are currently charged at flat rates in advance, an approach that does not align with marine licence applications. The current system does not accurately reflect the complexity or time required for each application, especially for works applications, and does not allow enough flexibility in charging, which currently leads to inefficiencies and inaccurate cost recovery and slows down application processing.

Clause 46 offers great flexibility in setting fees in relation to case work on these orders—for example, charging on the basis of actual hourly costs. The actual fee level will be subject to consultation with ports and relevant stakeholders. In line with the devolution settlement, this new, more flexible regime will be commenced by the Scottish and Welsh Governments at a time of their choosing.

Government Amendment 56 is a technical amendment linked with Amendment 359. Following engagement with the Scottish and Welsh Governments, we are amending the Bill so that when the new regime is commenced the existing regime will cease to operate. On introduction, the new regime would have taken precedence over the old once regulations were made by the devolved Governments. At that point, the UK Government would have had the power to switch off the existing regime. Taken together, government Amendments 56 and 359 mean that the existing regime will not require UK Government Intervention to switch it off. Instead, the existing regime will come to a close automatically when the new regulations are made. We are grateful for the continuing constructive working relationship that we have had with both the Scottish and Welsh Governments on this clause. The amendments are technical in nature, made in the interests of ensuring that the devolved Administrations are content with a provision that requires their consent, and I hope they will be accepted by the House.

I turn to the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Moylan. The amendment would not add value to Clause 46. It would require regulations to include elements that either—as for the method of determination of fees—would almost certainly be included anyway, or, such as for making incidental provision, may or may not be required. It would therefore risk making regulations unnecessarily complicated. I invite the noble Lord to withdraw his amendment.

My Lords, I beg leave to withdraw the Amendment.

Amendment 55D withdrawn.