The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (George Eustice)
Following a consultation exercise led by my Department in early 2015, the Government have made an amendment to the order delegating the exercise of certain marine licensing functions to the Marine Management Organisation (MMO). These changes took effect on 1 October 2015.
The marine licensing system was introduced by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009. The exercise of most licensing functions in England and the offshore areas of Wales and Northern Ireland has been delegated by the Secretary of State to the MMO.
The purpose of the amending order is to strengthen democratic accountability on the most complex marine licence applications by providing an opportunity for locally accountable bodies (i.e. local planning authorities, inshore fisheries and conservation authorities) to seek an independent inquiry into certain marine licensing applications, with the final decision taken by Ministers directly accountable to Parliament. It will also enable Ministers to determine certain applications which involve activities of national significance but in relation to which there is no or insufficient planning policy guidance.
The order includes the criteria according to which the Secretary of State will consider whether to “recover” an application. In this context “recover” means that an application is to be determined by the Secretary of State.
The Government’s intention is that the policy will be highly selective and that only a very small proportion of marine licensing cases will be recovered.
The Secretary of State has issued statutory guidance to the MMO setting out how it should apply the policy, including providing indicative targets for each stage of the process. A copy of the guidance has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
The Government will review the effectiveness of the policy and consult with stakeholder groups in October 2016.
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