Source · Select Committees · Environmental Audit Committee
Recommendation 2
2
Accepted in Part
Designate a lead department for marine governance and policy coordination by January 2026.
Recommendation
Given the lack of coordination, we recommend that one department must act as the lead authority for marine governance and the coordination of marine policy. This department should be responsible for engaging with other departments and bodies, including The Crown Estate, to ensure their needs are considered alongside competing demands. However, ultimate responsibility and accountability for determining how these priorities are balanced should rest with the lead department. This will enable the Government to address and support the diverse ambitions of various sectors while ensuring the protection of marine nature and sustainable use of the marine environment. The Government should confirm the lead department and identify its coordination responsibilities by January 2026. (Recommendation, Paragraph 17)
Government Response Summary
The government partially agrees, stating that Defra is the lead department for marine planning and has led the cross-government Marine Spatial Prioritisation programme. However, they reject the idea of a single department having ultimate responsibility for all balancing and prioritisation decisions, noting that marine plans and national policy statements guide such decisions.
Government Response
Accepted in Part
HM Government
Accepted in Part
It is agreed that Government should support the needs of different marine sectors while ensuring the protection of marine nature and sustainable use of the marine environment. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the lead department for marine planning, and marine plans set the policies that are relevant to each region. Departments actively contribute to making sure that each marine plan reflects the latest Government position. Each marine plan is an opportunity to deliver national policies locally. Currently, the East Marine Plan is in the process of being replaced to align with the latest national policy positions. Defra has also led the cross government Marine Spatial Prioritisation programme (MSPri) to ensure that the sea space is developed in a strategic manner. Through this programme, Defra has engaged the key departments across Whitehall with marine interests, their delivery and advisory bodies, and The Crown Estate (TCE). It would not be appropriate to have one department making all the balancing and prioritisation decisions about how the marine environment is used. Marine plans should be used to guide decision makers on how to balance different demands of the sea. National policy statements also set out how the environment and other activities should be considered. The need to consider options and impacts on the environment is already set out in the impact assessments and where relevant when the decision goes to the Secretary of State responsible for nationally significant infrastructure project decisions. It would not, for example, be appropriate for Defra to make the final decision about the balance of priorities–for example when it comes to ports expansion or where telecoms cabling can go. The Government therefore partially agrees with this recommendation.