Draft Ship and Port Security (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018

Karl Turner Excerpts

Tuesday 8th January 2019 General Committees

[Karl Turner (Kingston upon Hull East) (Lab)]

It is always an absolute pleasure to see you in the Chair, Mr Evans. I intend my remarks to be relatively brief, but I would be grateful if the Minister could answer one or two points. As she said, the regulations are part of the many aspects of EU law that fall into UK law under the Government’s withdrawal Act. They ensure that both converted EU ship and port security legislation and existing secondary legislation remain legally operable when we withdraw from the European Union.

We recognise that these changes are required, so we support them, but can the Minister explain whether there are any differences between what is currently in place and the UK’s post-Brexit implementation of the core international ship and port facility security code? I understand that the Secretary of State would be able to exclude certain amendments to the 1974 international convention for the safety of life at sea—SOLAS—and/or the ISPS code under limited powers held by the European Commission. It would be good if the Minister could explain how that process will work, and where the Secretary of State will be required to explain why certain amendments may be excluded.

It makes sense for the statutory instrument to erase obligations to report information to the Commission and to facilitate Commission inspections, but this is more significant than a tidying-up exercise. What new data and intelligence-sharing system will be in place post Brexit to ensure that security standards are maintained on ships arriving in the UK from EU and non-EU ports, and are sufficiently flexible to respond to emerging maritime security challenges, such as those we have seen in the channel this winter, with the migrant boat crossings and stowaways on cargo ships? Will the Maritime and Coastguard Agency be issued with increased resources to implement the regulations? I would be grateful if the Minister answered those points, but I am happy if she wants to put her answers in writing.