Special Report
Mr David Taylor reported from the Committee on
the Broads Authority Bill, That it had agreed to the following
Special Report:—
Introduction
1. The Broads Authority Bill, promoted by the Broads
Authority, was deposited in Parliament in November 2005. The bill
was opposed by four petitioners.
2. The Bill received its second reading on 25 April
2007. This Committee was nominated on 16 May 2007 and met for
the first time on Tuesday 17 July. Over the course of two days
we heard the evidence and arguments from the promoters, their
counsel and witnesses and the petitioners and their Agent, namely,
Peter Sanders, Mollie Howes, Paul Howes and Alan Richard Williams
and James Campbell (Agent). We also heard representatives of
the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
explain the concerns and recommendations contained in his report
on the bill.
3. The purpose of this Special Report is to draw
the attention of the House to our concerns regarding the constitution
of the Broads Authority.
The Bill
4. This Bill is a Private Bill, brought forward by
the Broads Authority. Private Bills seek to confer particular
powers or benefits on any persons or body of persons in excess
of or in conflict with the general law. Unlike a public bill,
which must be presented by a Member of Parliament, Private Bills
are sought by parties outside the House.
5. The Broads Authority was established by the Norfolk
and Suffolk Broads Act 1988. This Bill seeks to confer further
powers on the Broads Authority in relation to the regulation and
management of navigation areas and for other purposes.
Amendments to the Bill
6. We concluded that the Bill should be allowed to
proceed, with several distinct caveats which we announced in committee
and set out in this report. The Promoters of the Bill brought
forward a selection of amendments designed to address concerns
raised during consultation on the Bill. We agreed these amendments
should be made to the Bill. We agreed that the case for clause
25, in relation to licensing of rescue boats, had not been made
and we have therefore removed it from the Bill. It is our view
that regulation should only be used when strictly necessary and
it appeared to be excessive in this situation.
7. The Committee has taken all the recommendations
made by the Secretary of State into serious consideration and
we have agreed to include in the Bill all the suggested amendments
set out in his Report.
The Broads Authority
8. This Bill extends the powers given to the Authority
in the 1988 Act. Whilst we are persuaded that the powers are necessary,
we are concerned that the powers may affect the relationship between
the Authority and the local people.
9. The report to the Committee by the Secretary
of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs highlighted that
the Authority had entered into a number of agreements with other
bodies over the provisions contained in the Bill, including proposals
as to how the resulting powers will and will not be used. It is
our view that such agreements would not have any legal effect
as they could not be seen to fetter the discretion given to the
Authority in the legislation once the Bill was enacted. We also
note that these agreements have caused confusion amongst the petitioners
and creates a legal ambiguity that is unhelpful to the wider
community.
10. It is our view that the Broads Authority and
local people would benefit from the provision for direct elections
to the Authority with a view to ensuring that the principle of
direct representation of local community interests should be guaranteed.
This would ensure that the Authority could be held to account
and that there was a democratic means of moderating the powers
enacted within the Bill.
11. We note that the National Parks (Scotland) Act
2000 set out in its framework for the constitution of a National
Park that a minimum of 20 per cent of members of the National
Park Authority were to be elected in a poll by those on the local
government electoral register within the Park area. A similar
model should be considered for the Broads Authority.
12. As the Authority has sought to extend its powers,
we believe that the Government should now consider the constitution
of the Authority. We are not minded to amend the Bill to include
such provisions as we believe that these measures should be brought
forward in consultation with the local community. It is our view
that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will
be well placed to consider these issues with the Broads Authority
and bring forward the necessary legislation.
13. We hereby draw these matters to the attention
of the House.
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