Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to shorten the time taken by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to undertake surveys and safety inspections on fishing vessels.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) monitor the expiry dates for all small fishing vessel certificates. The MCA allows owners of small fishing vessels to book their renewal inspection up to 6 months before their certificate expires and still retain the anniversary date of the certificate.

The MCA send the owner/operator a reminder letter five months prior to their certificate expiring to prompt and encourage them to book an inspection well in advance of their certificate expiry date and to ensure there is no lapse in validity of the certificate that would affect their ability to commercially fish.

The MCA includes links to guidance within the reminder letter on how to prepare for your survey, reducing the length of time to complete the survey process.