draft Merchant Shipping (Alcohol) (prescribed limits amendment) Regulations 2015

Gordon Marsden Excerpts

Tuesday 15th September 2015 General Committees

[Mr Gordon Marsden (Blackpool South) (Lab)]

May I say that it is a great pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Dorries? May I also, without straying beyond the terms of the motion, commend my hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester for his concern about the tragic case of his constituent? What he has said raises larger issues about not just the relationship of the IMO to the UK but ensign registering. I am sure that he will wish to pursue that angle with the Minister and using the other parliamentary mechanisms available to him.

However, we are concerned today, as you have highlighted, Ms Dorries, with the specifics of these regulations. We welcome measures that are derived internationally—although they need to have the fullest input from the UK—and that may help to improve safety at sea, and therefore the decision today to implement them through this statutory instrument.

The Minister talked at the beginning about British shipping week. I join him in commending the great tribute that the week was, in particular, to all those who bring freight and passengers to this country and take them all round the world. It was a week that my late father, who served in the merchant navy during world war two, would have been proud of. But that makes it all the more important that people who serve on merchant ships observe the proper codes that have been implemented.

We have seen in a range of incidents—some particularly tragic—the damaging role that alcohol can play in maritime accidents. Collisions in Belfast, already alluded to, and in Cornwall have sharpened the need to focus attention on alcohol and ensure that we uphold the strongest standards possible when it comes to safety at sea. Again, referring to what my hon. Friend the Member for City of Chester said, we need to ensure that the mechanisms for monitoring that are as strong as possible.

Research by the US Coast Guard has found that a blood alcohol concentration of 0.1 or higher increases the odds of being involved in a fatal accident at sea by 10 times. Clearly, therefore, it makes sense, in maritime matters, that the standards should be applicable as commonly as possible worldwide on the open seas. A drunken navigator can be as lethal as a drunken driver.

The measures in themselves seem sensible and proportionate, but I would appreciate the Minister’s response on just a few points about how the appropriate regulations were arrived at by due process and how Ministers intend to ensure that they are implemented effectively in the future. In that respect, I was pleased to see in the explanatory memorandum that there was strong consultation with both shipping companies and trade unions via the Merchant Navy Training Board, and that they were asked for their views on the appropriateness of the regulations. However, can the Minister give us an assurance that as the regulations bed down, that close monitoring and close consultation will continue? How will information about the new regulations be distributed to seafarers to ensure that no one is found in contravention of the rules without being made aware of the new limits?

I have sat on many of these Committees—I am sure you have sat on many of them too, Mrs Dorries, and indeed chaired some of them—and Francis Drake’s famous phrase has often come to mind: that

“it is not the beginning, but the continuing of the same unto the end, until it be thoroughly finished”—

this is a naval reference, but I hope it is appropriate—

“which yieldeth the true glory”.

The important issue is not simply passing the regulations, but implementing and monitoring them.

The Government’s draft regulations say the policy will be reviewed after five years at the latest. Does the Minister think that is sufficient? If events require the policy to be revisited more frequently, will he consider that? What metrics will the Government use to assess how well the regulations have been adopted and the effect they have had on safety levels?

The regulations state that the review will consider whether the objectives

“could be achieved with a system which imposes less regulation.”

I assume that is standard language for a Government instrument—I hesitate to use the word “boilerplate”—but will the Minister assure me that the regulation of alcohol levels in a seafarer’s blood will not, under any circumstances, be seen as a case of burdensome red tape and will always be treated as the sensible and necessary oversight it is?

The hon. Member for Lichfield alluded to the situation on inland waters. I noted with interest the terminology in the explanatory memorandum, which states that the limits, as the Minister said,

“apply to professional mariners only, as the provisions relating to non-professional mariners in section 80 have not been commenced.”

For my enlightenment, and perhaps for that of other members of the Committee, will the Minister enlarge on that reference to section 80 not having been commenced?

I think we all accept the need to have the strictest possible regulation of people who are in charge of any aspect of a ship. The points I have raised are ones on which I genuinely seek reassurance, as I am sure my hon. Friends do. Otherwise, however, we are happy to support these sensible and safety-conscious proposals, with the proviso that Ministers keep a strong focus on their comprehensive implementation in the coming years.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mr Marsden]

I seek a little more clarification on that point. I absolutely accept the Minister’s points. I do not want to stray beyond the narrow interpretation of the regulations into uncharted waters, but he will be aware that sensitivities in relation to such issues, including among Members, are inevitably highlighted by individual incidents and accidents, a couple of which have been mentioned in this debate. We can see the river outside, and we know that tragic incidents occur on inland waters, too. Perhaps the Government will think about how they might be even more proactive in that process without necessarily resorting to major new secondary or primary legislation.

[Mr Goodwill]

I sympathise with the hon. Gentleman’s intention to ensure that we do everything we can to protect life. One problem we face is in connection with the recent Court of Appeal ruling on what constitutes a vessel in the case of an accident involving a jet ski. The Railways and Transport Safety Act defines a ship as a “vessel used in navigation”. The Court of Appeal held that that means that, to be a ship, a vessel must be used to make ordered progression from one place to another. A vessel or buoyant craft simply used for having fun without the object of going anywhere does not fall within the meaning of “ship” in the Act. The Court of Appeal has therefore decided that a jet ski is not a ship within the legislation. We could be getting into difficult territory, because making that change would not simply be about amending legislation. If we needed to take action, we would need legislation that addressed some of the issues raised by the Court of Appeal.

We have had a useful discussion today that demonstrates the high regard that hon. Members have for the maritime industry and the vital part it plays in sustaining our nation’s wellbeing. In particular, it is evident that we share a strong commitment to upholding safety at sea. I welcome the support shown today for the regulations as part of the continuing effort to address the risk posed by excessive alcohol consumption by seafarers.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That the Committee has considered the draft Merchant Shipping (Alcohol) (Prescribed Limits Amendment) Regulations 2015.