Draft United Kingdom Marine Policy Statement

Lord Henley Excerpts

Wednesday 15th December 2010 Grand Committee

Moved By

[Lord Henley]

That the Grand Committee do consider the draft United Kingdom Marine Policy Statement.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Lord Henley)]

My Lords, I should like to say how pleased I am to open this debate on the United Kingdom marine policy statement. Having been in the House for some 32 and a half years, I think that this is the first time that I have ever taken part in or opened a debate on a policy statement of this sort. It is nice to know that there is always something new that one can do, particularly as the marine policy statement is a landmark, not just in the implementation of marine planning but in the implementation of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 as a whole, an Act which was supported by all parties and all others—or stakeholders, as we have to call them—who were involved.

The current system for managing our seas is seen as inconsistent and failing to consider fully the cumulative impact that we have on the marine environment. Regulators and industry consider the current system to be burdensome and a barrier to economic development. The Marine and Coastal Access Act enables the introduction of marine planning—a means to move away from the old consent-led approach and towards the strategic, integrated and transparent management of our seas. The new marine planning system will be based on openness, a clear evidence base and joint working among Government, regulators, industry and communities. Our ambition is to enable economic developments in locations that maximise benefits and minimise environmental impacts and to empower coastal communities to help shape the management of their own marine resources.

The marine policy statement is also the first step in implementing marine planning. The MPS is unique in its purpose and UK status, will ensure a consistent approach to the development of marine plans across the United Kingdom and will direct decision-makers and users towards more efficient and sustainable use of marine resources. The MPS will help achieve the UK Government vision of having,

“clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas”.

The marine policy statement includes a wide range of activities and sectors, from renewable energy and oil and gas to nature conservation, fishing, recreation and tourism. The marine policy statement sets the economic, social and environmental framework that applies in the UK marine area. Within that framework, it sets out the policy context, direction and considerations that must be given to each activity when developing marine plans or taking licensing decisions.

While the marine policy statement brings together a range of policies, we are here today not to debate the individual policies but to discuss whether the draft marine policy statement is fit for purpose. We strongly believe that it is. The marine policy statement has been developed over the past four years throughout the passage of the Marine and Coastal Access Act and is a product of comprehensive joint working across Whitehall and the UK devolved Administrations.

The marine policy statement is not just a product of government but a product of all interested parties in the marine environment. Engagement has been thorough and ongoing and has been informed by a statement of public participation to explain transparently how and when contributions could be made. Regional and national stakeholder workshops have been held and a discussion paper, which was issued in March 2010, enabled stakeholders to influence the development of the marine policy statement. Officials are currently considering responses to a further consultation that closed in October 2010, and they are discussing the results directly with those stakeholders as well as with policy-makers, including in the devolved Administrations.

Crucial throughout its development has been the idea that the marine policy statement should respect the devolved nature of many aspects of marine planning and the importance of consistency being achieved. The marine policy statement does that through identifying activities to which a degree of priority should be attached. However, the statement does not say which activities should take priority over others, as that can only be determined by each Administration when considering specific geographical areas in the marine planning process.

By adopting the marine policy statement, the devolved Administrations will be able to plan holistically for their inshore and offshore marine regions, including for retained functions. A number of administrative safeguards exist to ensure effective and co-ordinated cross-border planning, and all issues will need to be agreed by the Secretary of State. The aim is for all United Kingdom Administrations to adopt jointly the marine policy statement by March 2011, when work starts in earnest on the first marine plans.

As required by the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009, the marine policy statement and the marine planning system as a whole must contribute to the achievement of sustainable development. The marine policy statement has been developed alongside an appraisal of sustainability, which assessed the likely economic, social and environmental effects of the statement and reasonable alternatives, with a view to promoting sustainable development. That extensive process means that the marine policy statement achieves the ambition set for it.

Marine plans will be developed in accordance with the marine policy statement and they, too, must contribute to sustainable development. As such, they will be subject to a sustainability appraisal, strengthened by the full engagement of national and local interested parties and integrated with terrestrial planning.

Marine planning is new and has the prospect of delivering huge benefits, yet we are the first country in the world to introduce such a comprehensive approach. In order to explain how marine planning will work, each Administration is in the process of developing guidance and working together to ensure that cross-border planning can be taken forward. In England, a consultation has just closed on the marine planning system in order to establish a baseline of understanding among stakeholders and relevant delivery organisations. The Marine Management Organisation will now be taking matters forward as it begins marine planning in spring 2011, starting with the first two plans in the east inshore and offshore areas. In 2013, our collective ambitions for the management of our seas will be a reality: the first marine plans will be in place. As the marine policy statement is finalised and marine planning unfolds, we will continue to work with and listen to stakeholders to ensure that we achieve our ambitious aims, both at national and local levels.

I look forward to this debate and to responding in due course to the various points raised. I beg to move.

--- Later in debate ---

[Lord Henley]

My Lords, I am very grateful for all the comments made about the marine policy statement. Obviously we will take them on board and consider them as we turn the draft into a final report. I want to say a little about the parliamentary process because the noble Baroness, Lady Quin, requested a further debate, particularly on the common fisheries policy. I can assure her that my honourable friend Mr Benyon is, I think, still in Brussels at this moment for that rather ghastly extended meeting which goes on for a number of days when these matters are discussed. I am sure that he will take a robust line on behalf of the United Kingdom. However, it is a difficult process and whether we are to debate the issues is obviously a matter for the usual channels, but no doubt the noble Baroness will put on pressure as appropriate to achieve that.

I can also say that my honourable friend Mr Benyon has been before the EFRA Select Committee, which is how this draft statement was dealt with in another place. In this House it was felt appropriate to deal with it by means of a debate in this Room. That is how we have decided to deal with such policy statements. Whether that is appropriate or whether in the future we will have committees to look at these sorts of things, again that is a matter for others.

I was also interested, because it took me back a long way, to hear the noble Baroness talk about border-related problems. I can assure her that those problems are often even more complicated than she thinks. I can remember at the time of the devolution Bill my late noble friend, the great Lord Mackay of Ardbrecknish, discussing with me the problems of defining the border in places such as the Solway, which I know well, as the river and the sandbanks shift here and shift there. The border, as far as I understand it, is never quite clear, and this causes great problems in terms of who regulates fishing on either side of the river. It has also led to problems with the regulation of fishing where the tributaries of some rivers entirely in Scotland will be part of the English administration, and vice versa according to which rivers they are. The noble Baroness will know about that. That is just one of the problems of devolution but it is one that we have to live with. I am sure that we can all cope with it. I shall say just a little on the questions that my noble friend the Duke of Montrose asked about the devolved Administrations later when I come to deal with some of the points that have been raised.

I shall not address every point that has been raised because I would weary your Lordships and we would be here overlong were I to do so. However, there are a number of points that need addressing, the first of which is the whole question of the draft and what it looks like. I was grateful for the comment from my noble kinsman Lord Eden when he talked about needing less colour and less gloss in the document in front of us. I tend to agree. If we are being non-party-political then I should say that, like one or two other noble Lords, I can remember a rather good White Paper from the Labour Government in the mid-1970s called Food from Our Own Resources. That was back in the days when White Papers were produced on a smaller-sized paper—I cannot remember what size it is—and were literally just white papers. There were no photographs or gloss. Perhaps it is time, particularly in a department such as Defra, that we reverted to such an idea. I just put that forward as a suggestion. It will no doubt be vetoed and I will be told that it is far more expensive to do it that way, and that it is far cheaper to produce it, and people expect to have it, in colour. But I feed it through as an idea. If I had cross-party support from Peers, you never know, we might achieve something.

I turn to the draft itself, and I start with my noble friend Lady Miller, who talked about it needing further work. She said that it should set out options and that the Government should make clear what they tend to favour. We should also make clear that it should be a route map. She wanted the Government to face up to hard choices. I have to say to her that that is what government is all about: it is about hard choices and setting out priorities. My noble friend Lord Selborne commended the consultative process, which I think has worked very well, but he also agreed with my noble friend Lady Miller that the document is full of platitudes and needs more work. The noble Lord, Lord Greenway, said that there is too much verbiage—again I say that we might save a bit of money by cutting down on the verbiage—but that the document is reasonably comprehensive. Of course, there are tensions between cutting down on the verbiage and ensuring that it is comprehensive. That is just the spirit of a number of the comments that were made. I commend the noble Baroness, Lady Quin, who also said that there is too much verbiage and too many acronyms—which, as someone who briefly served in the Ministry of Defence, I think are awful things. If we could get rid of acronyms, or at least if we knew what they meant, life would be a lot easier, particularly when reading some of the papers that one has to read.

I take on all those comments and criticisms. We will look at those matters when we come to produce the next version. This debate has been useful in dealing with those matters and dealing with the draft and I thank all noble Lords for their remarks. As I said, I would like to cover a number of questions, but I do not want to weary the Committee by dealing with every point raised as we would be here too long. The important thing is that we have those questions on record so that we in the department can take them on board and consider them when we produce the next version.

On the issue raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Quin, and the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, about the resources for the MMO—I should not slip into using acronyms, but as a group of experts we probably now all know that I mean the Marine Management Organisation—settlements on funding are still to take place, but I can give the noble Lord an assurance that the MMO is prioritising and protecting funding for marine planning. We will ensure that that continues to happen. As regards the departure of both the chairman and the chief executive, I am advised that that had nothing to do with funding. It is regrettable that those individuals had to go at the same time, but we are assured that the organisation will still be able to achieve all that it needs to do.

My noble friend the Duke of Montrose asked about the review and comprehensive monitoring of the marine plans. A new report on the plans needs to be produced every three years, in accordance with the Act. He and the noble Baroness, Lady Quin, also asked about the issue of undesignated archaeological sites, which relates to the sites where designation is being considered but not yet completed. Clarification on that is actively being discussed by officials.

My noble friend Lord Selborne asked about the evidence base. I certainly welcome his comments and I recognise the problems. Page 26 of the marine policy statement deals with that as well as with the high-level approach to planning. On the importance of co-ordination with the devolved Administrations, I refer him to page 22. The United Kingdom marine monitoring assessment strategy will be important in closing gaps, as will the marine plans themselves. The consultation on the marine planning system in England, as well as the MPS, stressed the need for a monitoring and review process, which still needs to take place.

Turning to the questions on the devolved Administrations raised by my noble friend the Duke of Montrose, I accept that there are problems. The aim is for all countries jointly to adopt the marine policy statement, and we have been working closely to achieve that. We all have to work together, but in the end it is for the Secretary of State, who has a United Kingdom role on this occasion, to adopt the marine policy statement for it to be valid. If difficulties in negotiations arise, the marine policy statement can be adopted by some but not all devolved Administrations without that affecting its validity for the Administrations that adopt it. In the end, it is for the Secretary of State to make sure that adoption take place.

Lastly, the noble Baroness, Lady Quin, asked about the involvement of the coastal communities in the development of the marine plans. There has been extensive engagement—I thank the noble Baroness for her supportive comments on that—which will extend into marine planning as a whole. Everyone with an interest in a marine plan will be able to get involved in its development.

I said that I would not be able to answer all the questions that have been raised, but again I stress that this is all part of the process. The current marine policy statement is a draft for consultation, so we will take all the points that have been made by noble Lords into account as we develop the policy further. I appreciate that, as the noble Baroness put it, the timetable is tight, but it is always possible to achieve things in a relatively tight timetable, particularly when, as she knows, the matter has been ongoing for a considerable time. Before the election in May, the pre-consultation paper was published in March 2010 and this draft marine policy statement was published in July. There will be more to come, and we welcome the comments of the Committee. I beg to move.

Motion agreed.