MPs: Marine bill lacks bite
The marine bill should require the government to act rather than just enabling change
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Wednesday, 30, Jul 2008 08:30
While the draft marine bill is a positive step for the UK's seas, MPs warned today that it lacks the teeth needed to force change through.
The joint committee on the bill expressed "concern" at how few obligations the bill imposes on the government.
Its report on the bill calls on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to make sure the final bill commits the environment secretary and other relevant bodies to action, rather than just enabling change.
The report also says the government should commit to a timetable for the creation of conservation zones.
The draft marine bill was published in March and seeks to give greater protection for the UK's seas.
Under the bill a new UK-wide system of marine planning would be established along with new steps to protect marine biodiversity.
And the setting up of a Marine Management Organisation (MMO) would aim to bring together the government's approach to the seas' environment.
Lord Greenway, chairman of the joint committee on the draft marine bill, said the bill contains several measures that will require coordination and collaboration across Whitehall and devolved administrations.
But he claimed the MPs were "not convinced the government has given enough thought as to how it will achieve this consensus".
He added that Defra "needs to think carefully" about how the marine bill will fit in with commitments in the European Union.
"We found a general lack of clarity regarding enforcement of many of the provisions of the bill, and were concerned that new offences were to be created without the approval of parliament – we expect this to have changed when the bill is introduced," Lord Greenway commented.