Memorandum from the General Lighthouse
Authorities (DMNB 07)
1. This Memorandum contains the response
of the three General Lighthouse Authorities ("GLAs")
for the British Isles to the invitation by the Transport Committee
to submit evidence to the Committee's inquiry into the draft Marine
Navigation Bill. The GLAs welcome the opportunity to assist the
Committee in its inquiry.
THE GENERAL
LIGHTHOUSE AUTHORITIES
2 The GLAs' powers are principally derived from
the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Their main responsibilities are
to provide marine aids to navigation within their respective areas
in the British Isles. The GLAs' respective areas, as prescribed
in the 1995 Act, are as follows:
(a) The Corporation of Trinity House[1]
is the GLA for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the adjacent
seas and islands;
(b) The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses
operating as the Northern Lighthouse Board is the GLA for Scotland
and the Isle of Man and the adjacent seas and islands; and
(c) The Commissioners of Irish Lights is
the GLA for Northern Ireland and the adjacent seas and islands
(and under separate legislation for the Republic of Ireland).
3. The GLAs' primary role is to deliver
a reliable, efficient and cost-effective aids to navigation service
for the benefit and safety of all mariners commensurate with the
level of risk. This includes the superintendence and management
of all lighthouses, buoys and beacons within their respective
areas and covers the inspection and audit of all local aids to
navigation, of which there are currently some 16,000 (including
those in Republic of Ireland waters). Additionally, the GLAs'
statutory responsibility for superintendence and management encompasses
advising Government and determining the marking requirements that
operators of offshore structures, renewable energy developments
and aquaculture sites must establish in the interests of the safety
of navigation. This growth area is coupled with an increase in
decommissioned offshore oil and gas installations, which, where
left in position, often remain a hazard to navigation and need
to be marked by the relevant operator with suitable aids to navigation.
4. The GLAs have powers under the 1995 Act
to mark, destroy, remove or raise wrecks that pose a navigational
hazard which lie outside areas controlled by harbour or conservancy
authorities.
5. The GLAs' activities in providing and
superintending aids to navigation and in respect of marking and
dealing with wrecks are funded by a fund, known as the General
Lighthouse Fund ("GLF"), established under statute and
administered by the Secretary of State for Transport. The Fund's
income comes principally in the form of light dues, a "user
pays" charge levied on commercial shipping using UK and Irish
Ports, based on tonnage. Due to savings in operating costs by
the GLAs, light dues have been cut by about 50% in real terms
in the last 10 years.
6. The GLAs work closely together and combine
their individual assets to ensure the best possible service and
cover in relation to aids to navigation provision and repair.
They also work closely in wreck survey, detection and marking
and in the exchange of ship assets to ensure an immediate response
to emergency hazards.
7. The GLAs welcome and support the provisions
in the draft Bill, which clarify and provide further versatility
to, the powers they already have under the 1995 Act which, for
a variety of reasons, now require updating.
AREAS
8. The GLAs are required to perform their
statutory role and duties beyond the 12 nautical mile limit of
territorial waters. For example the GLAs discharge the UK and
Irish Governments' obligations under the International Convention
for the Safety of Life at Sea 1974 (SOLAS) to provide aids to
navigation. These responsibilities extend beyond territorial waters,
where the GLAs currently maintain over 40 navigation marks, some
in respect of internationally recognised vessel traffic separation
schemes. There would consequently be serious implications for
the safety of the mariner and the environment if aids to navigation
provision and wreck marking and dispersal were restricted to territorial
waters. The draft Bill clarifies the GLAs' geographical responsibilities
to include the area that lies beyond the territorial sea and up
to the outer limit of the UK's Pollution Control Zone. This area
extends up to 200 miles out to sea and is the nearest equivalent
in the UK to an Exclusive Economic Zone. The division of responsibilities
between the GLAs will continue to be determined in accordance
with their operational requirements. The GLAs welcome this clarification
of their geographic responsibilities.
LOCAL LIGHTS
9 Under the 1995 Act the GLAs are required to
inspect and monitor all aids to navigation provided by Local Lighthouse
Authorities (in the main part local harbour authorities). The
Authorities are required to provide the GLAs with information
and returns in respect of their aids to navigation. This information
is essential for us to discharge our superintendence and management
role effectively and in doing so ensure the safety of navigation
in UK and Irish waters. A Local Lighthouse Authority and other
aids to navigation providers are also required to seek our consent
before deploying, changing or discontinuing any of their aids
to navigation.
10. The majority of Local Lighthouse Authorities
and other providers fully discharge their obligations in respect
of their aids to navigation. However, there are a minority, who
do not. This has potentially serious consequences for the safety
of the mariner. Of the 9,665 aids to navigation inspected by Trinity
House in 2007, 1,554 were found to be in other than good and efficient
order, representing a deficiency rate of 16.1%, up from 13.5%
in 2006. Whilst the GLAs have the power (with the consent of the
Secretary of State) to direct a Local Lighthouse Authority as
to how it should deploy its aids to navigation, there are currently
no enforcement powers for non-compliance.
11. We therefore support the proposals which
would make it an offence, either to fail to provide the information
the GLAs require to carry out their management and inspection
function, or to fail to comply without good reason with a direction
to deploy or repair an aid to navigation. We would issue a direction,
for which we would need the Secretary of State's consent, only
after the relevant Local Lighthouse Authority had been given reasonable
opportunity to deploy or repair the aid to navigation or make
representations to us.
12. The consultation document seeks the
views of stakeholders on extending these provisions to operators
of offshore installations and renewable energy devices, which
are set to increase significantly in the years ahead from about
150 wind turbines at present to potentially 7,000. Whilst we would
support this proposal, we would encourage the Government to extend
the provisions to all providers of third party aids to navigation.
The GLAs submit that it is important to ensure that all providers
of aids to navigation are treated consistently with Local Lighthouse
Authorities in the interests of the safety of ships and mariners
navigating in increasingly crowded waters.
PENSIONS
13. The draft Bill will also enable the
GLAs to improve the management of their pension arrangements in
line with best practice both now and in the future. The 1995 Act
currently provides for the payment of pensions to former GLA staff
from the General Lighthouse Fund (GLF). There is no provision
for UK Exchequer Funding of the GLF.
14. The GLAs' pension schemes are operated
on a "pay as you go" arrangement. This means that, subject
to Parliamentary approval, the Secretary of State seeks to ensure
that annual revenues into the GLF are maintained at a sufficient
level to meet the pension schemes' liabilities as they fall due.
However, there is currently no statutory provision to ring fence
within the GLF the pension contributions made by GLA employees.
The GLF is a single undifferentiated fund out of which pension
benefits are paid in the same way as other expenses on a "pay
as you go" basis. In other words, although pension contributions
have significantly augmented the GLF, GLA staff have no right
to have those contributions applied for their benefit nor are
the contributions secure against calls on the GLF. In addition
the Act precludes the establishment of separately funded pension
arrangements for GLA staff. By extension there is uncertainty
as to whether the GLAs can participate in a multi-employer scheme
operated by a third party.
15. The GLAs support the proposals in the
draft Bill to:
(a) separate the GLF into two parts—operational
costs and pensions with the pensions element protected from other
GLA/GLF liabilities.
(b) create a separately funded pension scheme.
The intention is that this should initially be for new staff as
a first move to a fully funded pension scheme.
(c) permit the Secretary of State to provide
by order that payments be made from the GLF to third party pension
funds. This clarification is necessary, as employer contributions
are paid into schemes like the Merchant Navy Officers' Pension
Fund for some of the ships' crews who have joined the GLAs as
existing members of that scheme.
16. The GLAs also support additional, clarifying
proposals to enable employees who wish to transfer previously
accrued benefits either into the GLF or the new scheme or to transfer
accrued benefits out of the Fund or scheme to a new employer,
to be able do so.
COMMERCIAL ACTIVITIES
17. The 1995 Act was amended by the Merchant
Shipping and Maritime Security Act 1997 to allow the GLAs to exploit
spare capacity in their assets. The draft Bill widens the ability
of the GLAs, with the consent of the Secretary of State, to enter
into commercial agreements to enable GLA assets to be used by
others by allowing the GLAs to incur expenditure in connection
with such agreements. It also provides for the GLAs to provide
consultancy and other types of services. Sums received are to
be paid into the GLF for the benefit of that fund and to defray
the expenses of the GLAs in carrying out their statutory obligations.
The GLAs welcome this additional clarity as to how their assets
and expertise can be used to maximise returns on the investments
made and related commercial benefits.
IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE NAIROBI
INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION
ON THE
REMOVAL OF
WRECKS
18. The GLAs recognise the importance of
this Convention and support the principle that the opportunity
of this Bill should be taken to give statutory effect to the Convention's
obligations. As mentioned above the GLAs already have duties and
powers under the 1995 Act to mark and dispose of wrecks in their
areas, which are outside the jurisdiction of local harbour authorities.
With this in mind they are concerned to ensure that the Convention
is implemented in a way that is, wherever possible, consistent
with their existing powers and so as to enable rapid deployment
to the scene of a casualty. The GLAs are working with the Department
for Transport to seek to ensure that the Convention provisions
are given effect to in a way, which guarantees this.
The GLAs would be pleased to assist the Committee
in providing any further evidence it considers would be useful
to its inquiry. The GLAs respectfully wish to make the Committee
aware that they intend to make similar responses to the Government's
current consultation exercise on the draft Bill and the implementation
and ratification of the Nairobi Convention on the Removal of Wrecks
2007 and that they intend no disrespect to the Committee in so
doing.
June 2008
1 Trinity House is also a corporation established by
Royal Charter, although its powers as a GLA are principally derived
from the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. Back
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