I start by declaring my interests. I have been a recreational yachtsman all my life, starting from the time I was a boy scout and including my service in the Royal Navy, when I commanded several vessels and was the officer of the watch of the Royal Navy’s largest-ever warship. I am also a member of the Royal Yachting Association—I was on its council for three years, from 2005 to 2008—and I am the owner of two boats.
Indeed, I would have paid much closer attention to the Bill, were it not for the fact that I chair probably the busiest Select Committee in the House—I have been abroad all week looking at Her Majesty’s Government’s policy on the European Union. I am here today, however, and although I support the principles and good intentions behind the Bill, and congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for South East Cornwall (Sheryll Murray), I wish to express my concern about the points raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Worthing West (Sir Peter Bottomley) in Committee and today.
It might be observed that it is hard to get much further from the sea than my wonderful constituency of Croydon South. None the less, a significant number of my constituents live in south London so that they can work in the city in the week and head for the south coast at the weekend. I represent a number of recreational
yacht users. I should also point out that, as is declared in the register, I am a solicitor specialising in maritime law and maritime arbitration. I therefore hope that the House will accept that, from a recreational and professional point of view and from my naval career, I have a feel for the issues at play.
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Every weekend there will be a huge number of competing interests in the area covered by any harbour authority. There will be cruising yachtsmen, racing yachtsmen, dinghy sailors, water skiers, powerboat recreational users and powerboat racers. Coming through the middle of that lot—particularly in the Solent, which is the Southampton harbour authority area—there will probably be a substantial number of cruise liners and commercial vessels, with both wet cargo and dry cargo, all of which have diverging interests. My concern is about the impact of clause 5 on those competing interests and the lack of statutory basis.
From my brief examination of the Bill I am quite alarmed that there seem to be powers to impose a criminal offence by an unelected authority without any democratic oversight, which is denied to local government authorities and the Civil Aviation Authority. As the RYA has highlighted throughout the passage of the Bill, under clause 5 an unelected designated harbour authority would have greater power to create new criminal offences than a democratically elected local authority. One of the many questions I wish to put to the Minister is: what is the thinking behind this? Harbour authorities are not well placed or adequately resourced to create new criminal offences. The proposed power to create such offences contains none of the supervisory safeguards usually imposed in relation to law-making bodies in a democratic society.
That is the thinking behind amendment 7, which, had I been here earlier in the week, I would have put my name to, and on which I want to focus today. A key principle of the Government’s localism policy is that power should be placed back into the hands of individuals, communities and councils, and where such power is to be exercised by local institutions, they should be subject to democratic checks and balances, enabled by full transparency. However, many harbour authorities are not democratically accountable and, far more importantly, are not subject to the Freedom of Information Act 2000. It would run counter to basic democratic principles and the Government’s localism policy to grant an unelected designated harbour authority law-making powers that are not subject to democratic checks and balances or full transparency. Cowes harbour authority, which covers the area where most of my current boating activity takes place, is excellently run, but it is not an elected authority. The appointment process is not subject to any democratic checks whatever. That is the area where most of the conflicts I set out earlier are arising.
Everyone can acknowledge that harbour authorities need to have the power to manage their harbours, and the Bill contains several valuable provisions. However, I am greatly concerned by clause 5, which would confer on designated harbour authorities the power to give “harbour directions” to ships in their harbours, including recreational craft. If the master or skipper of a ship to
which a direction applies does not comply, they commit a criminal offence. However, although clause 5 would require a harbour authority to consult representatives of harbour users before giving a direction, there is essentially no other limitation on the exercise of the power by harbour authorities. Although some harbour authorities form part of a local authority, many are private enterprises or independent trusts, with no direct accountability to the public or harbour users.
The power in clause 5 to give directions is expressed so as to apply to ships that are within their harbour, or entering or leaving their harbour. The direction may relate to the movement of ships, to mooring, to equipment—the nature and use thereof—and to manning. A pre-consultation requirement is included in the provision. It requires the harbour authority to consult such representatives of harbour users as it thinks appropriate. Contravention of the provision would be a criminal offence.
The power in clause 5 to give directions is additional to a harbourmaster’s power to give directions to individual vessels under section 52 of the Harbours, Docks and Piers Clauses Act 1847, of which I am sure all hon. Members are fully aware. Examples of harbour directions authorised under clause 5 that could be unfair or inappropriate include the prohibition of sailing or powerboat racing within the harbour, or the prohibition of certain types of vessels within the harbour, particularly if the harbour authority had chosen not to incorporate the open port principle set out in section 33 of the 1847 Act. A number of recreational harbours have incorporated that principle in the past.
A third possible scenario could involve a requirement that all collisions should be reported, including minor, inconsequential ones that occur during training or racing. The House should be aware that a substantial number of such incidents take place, and that such a proviso would be ludicrously bureaucratic. Another scenario could involve a stipulation that all ships, including sailing and motorised dinghies and other small craft used in navigation, should carry a ship-to-shore radio. Anyone who has spent five minutes on a boat will know that electricity and salt water do not mix. It would be completely impractical to require a dinghy or other small boat to carry such a radio. However, a harbour authority that was trying to impose its will might steer its directions in that way in order to inhibit that type of use.