Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009

14 Agreements between the Secretary of State and the MMO

(1) The Secretary of State may enter into an agreement with the MMO authorising the MMO to perform any marine function of the Secretary of State—

(a) either in relation to the UK marine area or in relation to specified parts of that area;

(b) subject to paragraph (a), either generally or in specified cases.

“Specified” means specified in the agreement.

(2) For the purposes of this Chapter, a “marine function” is any function which relates to, or whose exercise is capable of affecting, the whole or any part of the UK marine area.

(3) For the purposes of this Chapter, any reference to a marine function of the Secretary of State includes a reference to a marine function exercisable by a person—

(a) authorised or appointed by the Secretary of State, or

(b) employed in the civil service of the State (but see subsection (4)).

(4) For the purposes of subsection (3)(b), a person is not to be regarded as employed in the civil service of the State to the extent that the person is any of the following—

(a) the holder of an office in the Scottish Administration which is not a ministerial office (within the meaning of section 51 of the Scotland Act 1998 (c. 46));

(b) a member of the staff of the Scottish Administration (within the meaning of that section);

(c) a member of the staff of the Welsh Assembly Government (within the meaning of section 52 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32)).

(5) An agreement under this section—

(a) may be cancelled by the Secretary of State at any time, and

(b) does not prevent the Secretary of State from performing a function to which the agreement relates.

(6) This section is subject to sections 17 and 18 (non-delegable functions and maximum duration of agreement).