Wreck Removal Convention Bill

Lord Davies of Oldham Excerpts

Friday 13th May 2011 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Oldham]

My Lords, of course the Official Opposition welcome the Bill, which is a constructive step forward. Therefore we are grateful to the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, for introducing it so clearly. We are even more grateful for the fact that the debate attracted a range of very well informed contributors, who have tested the Bill and indicated areas where there is room for further explanation in Committee, which I am sure we will all enjoy.

I have no doubt that the Minister is exercising his mind on the government Front Bench as we speak. One factor that often obtains with a Bill of this kind is that at least one noble Lord is able to provide most of the answers to questions that are thrown up in debate and which the Minister would also like to answer. The noble Lord, Lord Greenway, has played that role today in tackling entirely appropriate questions put by my noble friend Lord Berkeley, my noble and learned friend Lord Boyd and by the noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw. We all also respect my noble friend Lord MacKenzie of Culkein, who speaks with great authority in these areas from his vast experience. I am sure that the noble Lord, Lord Greenway, provided areas of reassurance about the lighthouse authorities and the way in which the Government will be expected to enforce the Bill.

The word “enforce” causes us all to be greatly exercised. We need in this debate to address two questions: first, who will bear the costs, which can be substantial; and, secondly, what will be the level of enforcement? The noble Lord, Lord Greenway, indicated that through the development of the convention, authorities will find themselves reasonably comfortable about the Government's intentions. However, we all know that the costs could be considerable. There will be wrecks that we cannot foresee. I was grateful to my noble and learned friend Lord Boyd for referring to the most dramatic incidence of dealing with a wreck, which was when the “Torrey Canyon” was bombed and napalmed by the Royal Air Force. It was a dramatic solution to a problem, but one which is scarcely available to us as we deal with oil pollution on vast stages.

We all appreciate the threat to navigation on the sea and to effective maintenance of waterways by the occurrence of significant wrecks. The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, indicated the nature of the problem. Who pays is related to the effectiveness of enforcement. If enforcement is lax, the danger is that the industry or the taxpayer will be inveighed with costs because the people who should have been insured are not and cannot meet the costs. The noble Lord, Lord Bradshaw, identified the problems that the motor car industry has with insurance at present. The key is obvious: as my noble friend Lord MacKenzie suggested in his contribution, rust buckets and careless owners have to be tackled by the port authorities with the degree of rigour that ensures that vessels that put in to British ports have the insurance to guarantee that the costs do not fall unduly on the public authorities.

Secondly, my noble friend Lord Berkeley was right to examine the question of costs in those circumstances. It might not be easy, certainly in the short term, to obtain the necessary resources from those responsible for the wreck. Therefore, there is a question about what can be demanded of the lighthouse authorities. We look upon the development of the agreement. I am sure that the Minister will be able to give greater detail in his contribution. We look upon that as a cardinal point in giving us reassurance on these matters.

This debate has identified enough issues for the Minister to wish to give us considerable reassurances in his speech and for the noble Baroness, Lady Stowell, to be all too well aware of the fact that the whole House is committed to ensuring that this Bill succeeds. However, at the same time, it will be appreciated that we will have a fairly lively and interesting Committee stage in order to explore further the broad issues that have been identified today. Even with the best will in the world, and I know the Minister will deploy that best will, it is likely that a few question marks will still remain for us to consider at a later stage.