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Mr. Simon Thomas: I shall speak mainly in support of new clause 6, but in doing so I shall mention many of the virtues of new clause 4, which was moved by the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh). On biodiversity action plans, from the Welsh perspective I cannot paint a picture as optimistic as that painted by the hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney). As I understand it, the plans are the Government's main method of delivering conservation measures for endangered species and habitats outside sites of special scientific interest.
Unfortunately, in Wales there is a clear example of things not going right, and in that respect new clause 6 has a lot of virtue in it. We have 222 species and habitat action plan areas that are relevant to Wales; in other words, there are about 222 species and habitats in Wales that could be considered rare or endangered, and they are in need of urgent conservation action. The implementation of the action plans for these areas and these species would be the main contribution of the Countryside Council for Wales--the leading body in Wales on this--to the United Kingdom biodiversity action plan.
However, the Countryside Council for Wales, like other publicly funded bodies, has--or claims that it has--a chronic shortage of money. In a council meeting last December, setting the budget for this financial year, it made a commitment only to work on 120 of the 222 action plan areas. Therefore, hon. Members will understand why I do not take as optimistic a view as does the hon. Member for Stafford.
For the foreseeable future, all work on the 102 remaining biodiversity action plan areas is suspended. Although the staff of the Countryside Council for Wales obviously recognise the importance of those plans to Welsh biodiversity, resources are scarce and they prioritise their statutory duties, so what is discretionary goes by the board. I feel that that reveals a certain lack of joined-up thinking on biodiversity by the Government, when so much emphasis is placed on the voluntary side of things and so little is therefore placed on the Bill. New clause 6 provides an excellent opportunity to insert that legal underpinning into the Bill.
The result is that Welsh wildlife and habitats remain in danger, and that little or no action is being taken to conserve at least the majority of them. The individual species and habitat action plans will implement the UK's commitment under the United Kingdom biodiversity action plan and under the convention on biological diversity--the overall convention which, I believe, the Government are ratifying. The current approach to that ratification is based on voluntary and participatory methods, both of which are very welcome--they build partnerships, and I can concur with other hon. Members' views that such partnerships often work. However, in the long term they cannot sustain the whole process, especially in the light of the experience of the Countryside Council for Wales.
We must have a legislative foundation for biodiversity action plans. I understand that the Government want to preserve the voluntary approach and I believe that new clause 4 retains some of that approach, but it is important that the process has a legal underpinning.
I hope that the Government will consider new clause 6 and how it might be implemented, so that we may improve both the UK's and the Welsh aspect of implementing biodiversity action plans.
Mr. Desmond Swayne (New Forest, West): I support new clause 4, which was so ably moved by my hon. Friend the Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh). If we take recent history in the New forest in, let us say, the last 30 years, in every issue of development versus conservation, one or other of the local authorities--the county council, the district council or its predecessors--has been on the side of development, and conservation has been championed by the commoners of the New forest, especially the Court of Verderers. I do not necessarily criticise the local authorities for that; after all, local authorities do have priorities with respect to housing, traffic management, tourism management, jobs, development and so on, but this new clause strikes me as a powerful corrective to that, so that a new responsibility is laid upon them that might have changed the history of the last 30 years in the New forest.
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Equally, the Minister's intention is to turn the New forest into a national park shortly and he will know that the proposal has not been universally welcomed. In particular, it has not been welcomed by existing local authorities, which are not keen to see yet another precepting and planning authority created on their doorstep. Has the Minister considered that, with a little creative thought, he could use the provisions in new clause 4 to develop all the responsibilities that he seeks to lay on a new national park authority without creating yet another administrative authority? The new clause seems to be the solution to the problem. I hope that he will consider it.
Mr. Mullin: Let me make the position on new clause 4 clear. The Government are firmly committed to action on local sites, whether we decide to use legislative means or not. The Government's framework for action on sites of special scientific interest emphasised the commitment to developing proposals on locally important sites in consultation with local authorities and other parties. We set up the local sites review group and the group agreed on the need for action, but views differed on the means of delivering the recommendations.
There is enormous scope for action. Local authorities are already incorporating local wildlife sites into their biodiversity action plans and I believe that this is the best way of delivering them in a coherent way.
I can give the House a firm commitment that we will take forward work on local wildlife sites, seeking to progress the general thrust of the group's recommendations and drawing in other interests to the extent that that is necessary. The issue to be resolved is whether delivery is more appropriate through legislative or other non-statutory mechanisms. As I said, however, the local sites review group was not unanimous on that point.
On new clause 6, the Government are sympathetic to the intention to provide a firm statutory basis for the UK biodiversity action plan. The new clause would require all
public bodies to further the objectives of the action plans for individual species and habitats in carrying out their functions. We understand fully that the aim is to ensure that the biodiversity process continues with a firm basis into the future.It is very important for action on biodiversity to be taken at the local level through local action plans. It is important, however, that action is not seen as something separate from the day-to-day work of local councils. The Government want the work to be fully integrated into councils' wider responsibilities. The importance of biodiversity, including local wildlife sites, should inform the full range of a council's activity. However, that may not happen if we treat biodiversity as a discrete and separate function. There are many examples of service and specific local plans which, although they look good on paper, lead to little action on the ground or which remain at the periphery of what the council does.
Mr. Swayne: Will the Minister give way?
Mr. Mullin: I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me, but I think that everyone is anxious to make progress and to move to Third Reading. He has not been with us much this evening, although I welcome his attendance now. Those Members who have been with us will confirm that my right hon. Friend the Minister for the Environment and I have been generous in giving way, but I detect that the mood of the House is to make progress. That is what I propose to do.
The Government propose that local biodiversity action plans, incorporating local councils' work on wildlife sites, should be integrated within the wider strategies that are being put in place in the current Local Government Bill. Part I of that Bill will require local authorities to prepare community strategies that contribute to sustainable development by promoting the economic, social and environmental well-being of their areas.
Draft statutory guidance published last week makes clear the Government's view that the strategies should become the overarching framework for other service or theme-specific plans, and that the priorities and activities in the community strategy should influence the range of actions of the council and its private, voluntary and community sector partners.
The strategies should bring coherence to service and specific plans, establish the links between them and the rest of local activity and, as far as possible, rationalise the number of plans, processes and partnerships that exist locally. There are already many of those, so the burden on local authorities is already considerable. We will make it clear in further statutory guidance that biodiversity should be an important element in community strategies, in delivering local authorities' new obligations on sustainable development and in improving local quality of life.
The conservation of biodiversity in the wider countryside is very important. We agreed in Committee seriously to consider whether any statutory underpinning would be appropriate. The Government's main objective is to ensure that the biodiversity process continues and effectively delivers the protection of our threatened habitats and species, using locally protected sites and other means. However, we have reached the conclusion that the commitments that we have given to take forward
the agreed recommendations of the local sites review group and the statutorily based community strategies give a strong basis for securing that objective at local level.By making biodiversity an explicit factor in the new strategies, we will be giving substantial new impetus to the good progress that many local authorities have already made in protecting and enhancing local wildlife. We are firmly committed to implementing the biodiversity action plan at national level, and we have a solid and effective policy process in place which would not benefit from legislation. I hope that hon. Members will not press the new clause.
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