National Assembly for Wales

Sustainability Committee

Report on the Committee’s scrutiny of the Draft Marine Bill: implications for Wales

Introduction

1. The UK Government introduced the Draft Marine Bill on 3 April 2008 and it is under public consultation until 26 June 2008. The purpose of the Draft Bill is to simplify and strengthen strategic management of the marine environment by enabling economic, social and environmental impacts and objectives to be considered simultaneously.

2. The Committee agreed that it would be appropriate to invite the Minister for Environment, Sustainability and Housing to an evidence session on the Draft Marine Bill to allow Members to seek clarification on the implications for Wales. The Secretary of State for the Environment was also invited to attend to the Committee but was unable to attend. In order to meet deadlines in scrutiny of the Draft Bill at Westminster, the Committee’s consideration of the Bill was limited to one evidence session, which took place on Wednesday 4 June 2008.  

Issues raised in evidence

3. The Minister opened the evidence session by explaining that she and her officials had been closely involved with the drafting of the Draft Bill and that she is broadly content with progress on all areas of the Draft Bill. The Minister also stated in her paper that she expected further changes to the final published bill as a result of the inclusion of clauses that were not ready to be included in the Draft Bill.

4. In taking evidence from the Minister, the Committee sought clarification and further details on the following issues:

  • The integration of marine spatial planning with other Welsh, UK and EU policies and with the Wales Spatial Plan;
  • The extension of Welsh territorial waters;
  • Planning and licensing arrangements for offshore power generation and the Welsh Assembly Government’s position on the devolution of further powers;
  • The role and functions of the Marine Consents Unit and its interaction with other licensing bodies;
  • The functioning and transparency of the appeals procedure;
  • The roles of the MMO and Welsh Assembly Government in delivering marine management and licensing;
  • The role and effectiveness of Marine Conservation Zones and conservation orders;
  • The role of statutory powers in creating coastal access in Wales;
  • The relationship between the Draft Marine Bill and the proposed Waste Management and Environmental protection Legislative Competence Order.

Recommendations

5. The Committee welcomes the way in which the Draft Bill has been developed in close consultation with the Welsh Assembly Government and that specific roles and powers have been given to the Welsh Assembly Government in the Draft Bill. We are making the following recommendations in the belief that they will further strengthen and clarify the responsibilities of the Welsh Assembly Government in the Draft Bill.

6. The Committee welcomes the recognition given in the Draft Bill of the need for Wales to establish its own procedures and mechanisms for marine management in devolved areas. We are concerned, however, that this throws up a number of grey areas in terms of implementation and potential confusion over ultimate responsibilities. We therefore make the following recommendations on clarifying areas of the Draft Bill which should be urgently taken forward jointly by the Welsh Assembly Government and the UK government:

Recommendation 1: That formal, agreed ways of operating and responsibility are published either, on the face of the Bill or in statutory guidance, for those ports and areas of land where there is joint responsibility between the Welsh Assembly Government and the MMO e.g. Milford Haven Harbour.

Recommendation 2: That formal, agreed ways of operating and responsibility are published either, on the face of the Bill or in statutory guidance on the carrying out of functions on behalf of the MMO by the Welsh Assembly Government.

Recommendation 3: That formal, agreed ways of operating and responsibility are published either, on the face of the Bill or in statutory guidance on the relationship between the Welsh Assembly Government as the environmental licensing body and the MMO as the granting of planning permission for offshore power generation between 1MW and 100MW.

Recommendation 4: That the Welsh Assembly Government issues statutory guidance with the Bill on the relationship between the Marine Policy Statement, Marine Plans, the Wales Spatial Plan, and other Welsh policies and plans to ensure that shoreline issues are fully integrated into the planning process in Wales.

7. We were concerned about the role of the Welsh Assembly Government in the appeals procedure. In England the MMO will be the licensing authority and in Wales, the Welsh Assembly Government. Currently, there are no provisions in the Draft Bill for the appeals procedure. The policy statement which accompanies the Draft Bill states that:

"The changes that we propose also introduce the ability for Ministers to establish

a new appeals mechanism. We recognise that the process set out in FEPA (Fisheries and Environmental Protection Act) does not meet modern expectations of transparency and accountability. We therefore intend to set up an independent appeals mechanism that will work to a clearly defined and transparent process.”

We are concerned that, if the Minister in Wales becomes the final arbiter for appeals, there will be issues of transparency and accountability in the appeals process.

Recommendation 5: That the potential role of the Welsh Assembly Government as both licensing authority and appeals body is examined and clarified on the face of the Bill.

The Committee fully supports the Minister in the establishment of coastal access in Wales on a voluntary basis. We consider, however, that, as the Minister herself stated, as a statutory tool may be needed to fully achieve the aims of the Welsh Assembly Government’s coastal access policy, the Bill would appear to be an appropriate vehicle for the government to obtain the necessary powers.

Recommendation 6: That the Welsh Assembly Government consults as soon as possible on coastal access provisions and that Bill contains coastal access conditions for Wales similar to those given to England in the Draft Bill.

8.The Committee welcomes the proposals to produce a joint Marine Policy Statement. We would like to emphasise the importance of the full participation of all three administrations and the full examination of any areas of dispute within the Policy.

9. We welcome this Draft Bill and its provisions for Wales and recognise that it is one of a series of consultations which have been issued on planning and policy for the marine environment. We hope that the full Bill is included in the 2008 Queen’s Speech and that process of producing a Marine Act can begin as soon as possible after that.

Mike German AM,
Temporary Chair, Sustainability Committee
June 2008