House of Lords House of Commons Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill Draft Marine Bill Volume I Report and formal minutes Ordered by The House of Commons to be printed 16 July 2008 Ordered by The House of Lords to be printed 16 July 2008 HL Paper 159-I HC 552-I Published on 30 July 2008 by authority of the House of Commons and the House of Lords London: The Stationery Office Limited £0.00 The Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill The Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill was appointed by the House of Commons and the House of Lords on 13 May 2008 to examine the draft Marine Bill and report to both Houses by 22 July 2008. Membership Lord Greenway (Chairman), Cross Bench Linda Gilroy MP, Plymouth Sutton, Labour Co-op Nia Griffith MP, Llanelli, Labour Anne Main MP, St Albans, Conservative Martin Salter MP, Reading West, Labour Sir Peter Soulsby MP, Leicester South, Labour Mr Robert Syms MP, Poole, Conservative Paddy Tipping MP, Sherwood, Labour Mr Charles Walker MP, Broxbourne, Conservative Joan Walley MP, Stoke-on-Trent North, Labour Dr Alan Whitehead MP, Southampton Test, Labour Mr Roger Williams MP, Brecon and Radnorshire, Liberal Democrats Baroness Byford, Conservative Earl of Caithness, Conservative Lord Greaves, Liberal Democrats Lord Haworth, Labour Lord Hunt of Chesterton, Labour Baroness Jones of Whitchurch, Labour Lord Lewis of Newnham, Cross Bench Lord MacKenzie of Culkein, Labour Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer, Liberal Democrats Earl of Selborne, Conservative Powers The Committee has the power to require the submission of written evidence and documents, to examine witnesses, to meet away from Westminster, to meet at any time (except when Parliament is prorogued or dissolved), to appoint specialist advisers, and to make Reports to the two Houses. Publication The Report and evidence of the Joint Committee are published by The Stationery Office by Order of the two Houses. All publications of the Joint Committee (including press notices) are on the Internet at: www.parliament.uk/parliamentary_committees/jcdmb.cfm Committee staff The staff of the Joint Committee were drawn from both Houses and comprised Charlotte Littleboy (Commons Clerk), Ed Ollard (Lords Clerk), Richard Ward (Commons Clerk), Dr Jonny Wentworth, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (Inquiry Manager), Libby Gunn (Legal Adviser), Francene Graham (Committee Assistant), Lisette Pelletier (Team Manager), Sam Colebrook (Senior Office Clerk) and George Fleck (Office Support Assistant). This inquiry was run from the Scrutiny Unit in the Committee Office, House of Commons. Contacts All correspondence should be addressed to the Clerk of the Joint Committee, House of Commons, 7 Millbank London SW1P 3JA. The telephone number for general enquiries is 020 7219 8387. The Joint Committee’s email address is [email protected]. Media inquiries should be addressed to Laura Kibby on 020 7219 0718. 1 Contents Report Page Summary 5 1 Introduction 7 Call for evidence 8 Policy background 9 Domestic and international commitments 9 Devolved administrations 9 International and EU obligations 11 Implementation 12 A framework Bill? 13 Funding 14 Regulatory Impact Assessment 14 Post-legislative scrutiny 14 2 The European Context 16 Marine Strategy Directive 16 Water Framework Directive 17 The Common Fisheries Policy and historic rights in offshore waters 18 3 The Marine Management Organisation 21 Objectives of the MMO 21 Statutory status of the MMO 23 Composition of the MMO board 24 Functions, capacity and resources of the MMO 24 Resources 27 Governance Issues 27 Relationship between the MMO and other bodies 28 Role of science and access to data 30 Data access 31 Data charges 32 Transitional arrangements 33 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 35 4 Marine Planning 37 Marine Policy Statement 37 Parliamentary scrutiny 37 Content and structure 38 Timetable 39 Consultation 40 Coordination with the devolved administrations 41 Marine Plans 42 Coordination of plans 43 Major developments and the Infrastructure Planning Commission 44 The land/sea interface 45 Coastal partnerships 47 5 Marine Conservation Zones 48 Selection, objectives and the MCZ network 49 Duty 52 Timetable 52 Development of scientific knowledge 53 Monitoring 54 Sufficiency of data 54 Management measures to achieve the objectives of MCZs 56 Enforcement and marking 57 MCZ designation 58 6 Inshore Fisheries Management 60 Establishment and composition of the Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities 60 Management of IFCAs 61 IFCA remit and objectives 62 Jurisdiction and estuaries 63 Grandfather rights – IFCA byelaws 65 Capacity and funding 66 Additional regulatory powers for IFCAs 67 Welsh Inshore Fisheries Management 68 7 Marine enforcement and management 70 Enforcement 70 Marine Enforcement Officers 71 Maritime and Coastguard Agency 72 MMO prosecutors 73 Administrative penalties 74 Parliamentary scrutiny of fixed monetary penalties and undertakings 75 Remediation, compliance and stop notices 76 Emergency fisheries byelaws and urgent and interim conservation orders 76 Conservation offences 78 General MCZ offences 78 Parliamentary Scrutiny 78 Fisheries offences: Keeping, introduction and removal of fish 78 8 Fisheries 81 Prohibited Instruments 81 Repeal of Section 212 of the Water Resources Act 82 Definitions relating to fish 82 Environment Agency’s Fishery Duty 83 9 The devolved administrations 84 Scotland 84 Wales 85 Northern Ireland 85 Cooperation between authorities 86 3 Devolved administrations and the MMO 86 10 Coastal Access 88 The principle of a continuous English coastal path 88 The exemption of parks and gardens 90 Independent appeals process 91 Compensation 91 Costs 92 11 Conclusion 93 Conclusions and recommendations 94 Annex 1: List of acronyms 105 Annex 2: Glossary 108 Annex 3: RIA – Scrutiny Unit Review 120 Annex 4: Delegated Powers Memorandum 127 Formal minutes 131 Witnesses 143 List of written evidence 146 List of unprinted written evidence 149 5 Summary We welcome publication of the draft Marine Bill after a lengthy and thorough consultation process and we look forward to its introduction in the next Parliamentary Session. We have reservations about the framework nature of the draft Bill—too much of its policy is contained in secondary legislation or guidance. There are significant areas of potential confusion of responsibility; between UK and international, especially EU, obligations; between the many agencies and other bodies who will be involved in delivering the proposals in the Bill; and most notably between the UK and the devolved administrations, particularly Scotland. We look to the Government to make it clear how, by whom, and on what advice the provisions of the Bill will be implemented. The Marine Management Organisation must have a clear statement of purpose—we consider that it should be seen from the outset as the owner of the public interest in the UK marine environment. It needs defined duties and adequate resources with which to carry them out. It should have an appropriate level of scientific expertise, a scientific advisory panel to ensure that it is making best use of available research, and a duty to collect marine data and make it publicly available. The Marine Policy Statement should be published as soon as possible. It must be subject to a high level of Parliamentary scrutiny, and should not be adopted before every effort has been made to reach agreement with the devolved administrations on it. The Bill should set out in greater detail what the contents of the Marine Policy Statement should be, and what bodies must be consulted in the process of preparing it. There is a valuable role for existing stakeholder partnerships and forums in developing marine plans. We hope that the Government will give thought as to how best the Marine Management Organisation and the new Infrastructure Planning Commission can work together to streamline the marine planning process. We think it essential that the Bill impose a duty on the Secretary of State to create a network of Marine Conservation Zones. Although these zones should be identified on the basis of scientific need, other factors should be considered before they are designated, including existing international obligations and socio-economic costs and benefits. The statutory nature conservation bodies should be given a duty to monitor MCZs and to report on them to Parliament. We expect there to be a range of management approaches towards the zones, varying from multiple-use to highly protected. We recommend that the new Inshore Fisheries and Conservation Authorities be required to work collaboratively to an agreed set of minimum standards, and given a duty to further conservation of coastal and marine fauna and flora—and that they must be adequately funded for this work. We think that the Environment Agency should manage the majority of estuaries but that working boundaries between the Agency and IFCAs should be set on a case by case basis. We would like to see all references to ‘grandfather rights’ removed from IFCA byelaws. We are concerned about the current provisions for Marine Enforcement Officers and the general lack of clarity regarding enforcement of the Bill’s provisions. The Government must make it clear what role the Maritime and Coastguard Agency is expected to play. The Bill 6 should provide for much stronger parliamentary control over the creation of proposed new criminal offences. We think the aim of a continuous coastal route around the English coast is laudable and agree with the principle of improved access to the coast. We consider that there is a need for an independent appeals mechanism against decisions on designation of the route for disagreements that cannot be decided through informal negotiations. Although we agree with the Government that compensation should not normally be payable, any payments made must be under a transparent scheme which should be included in the Bill. We think the Government needs to make a more adequate assessment of the likely costs of the coastal path. 7 1 Introduction 1.