Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the reasons for delaying the incorporation of amendments to regulations arising from international conventions and obligations into the draft Merchant Shipping (Life Saving Appliances and Arrangements) Regulations 2020; how many such amendments relating to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea are outstanding; and what plans they have to rectify this delay.

The global nature of the maritime sector results in an extensive set of international obligations and amendments, emanating predominantly from the International Maritime Organization and the International Labour Organization, which means that UK domestic legislation is having to be constantly updated. The diverse nature of the obligations means that some conventions are implemented in multiple instruments.

The Department for Transport, including the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, identified the need for 30 separate Statutory Instruments (SIs) related to international obligations, to be delivered on an ongoing basis between 2019 and 2022. Of those, four SIs have been completed, with a further six planned to be laid by the end of 2020. 13 are expected to be completed in 2021, with the remaining seven expected to be completed by the end of 2022. 13 of the 30 SIs relate to the International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea.

Since 2016, when updating secondary legislation to implement international maritime obligations, where appropriate, the Department for Transport has included ambulatory references; these will allow future changes to technical requirements and associated provisions to be brought into force domestically quicker, without the need for further legislative action.