Richard Blakemore
Bay 2/25
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
United Kingdom
Tel: +44 (0)23 80329 179
Fax: +44 (0)23 80329 161
Email: richard.blakemore@mcga.gov.uk
3 February 2009
Your ref:
Our ref: Draft MGN - Radio Surveys
Dear Consultee,
Consultation on a Draft Marine Guidance Note (MGN) entitled “Radio Survey Service: Delegation”
Please see the attached draft MGN and Impact Assessment which outlines the new arrangements for authorizing persons to undertake radio survey service for United Kingdom (UK) ships which apply from 1 April 2009.
The shipping industry has requested changes to improve the service by allowing radio surveys to be conducted by Classification Societies, on classed vessels, in common with many other flag states procedures. This will enable a one-stop-shop for radio surveys to be carried out by the same Class surveyors who will be carrying out other surveys on board. Because there are a number of un-classed vessels which may not utilise this service, alternative arrangements will apply. These will allow for a greater number of authorised persons in key locations to carry out radio surveys on such vessels. Due to the number of different suppliers fees will no longer be regulated by the Secretary of State. Fees have been held for 6 years but increases are now likely. It is anticipated that any increase in cost will in most cases be mitigated by savings due to reduced travel time and expenses.
Because the present arrangements expire on 1 April, a shortened consultation period of 8 weeks has been agreed by the Secretary of State to allow for continued service. These new arrangements have been subject to pre-consultation discussions with industry for some months already.
This consultation has been sent either by hard copy or email as deemed the most appropriate method. If you have received the documents by email and require hard copy versions, or vice versa, please contact me.
You are invited to make comment on these documents either by e-mail to richard.blakemore@mcga.gov.uk, or fax to 023 80329161, or post to the following address:
Richard Blakemore
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/25 Spring Place
105, Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
by noon on the 30 March 2009. This consultation can also be found on our website, www.mcga.gov.uk under Ships and Cargoes, Current Consultations. After the closing date it will be moved to the Closed Consultations section.
Comments on this Consultation, together with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) responses, will be made available on the MCA’s website, www.mcga.gov.uk within three months of the closing date of this Consultation.
A list of consultees, a note about the Freedom of Information Act and a summary of the criteria for the conduct of consultations are appended to this letter.
If you have any comments about the conduct of this consultation, or feel that it does not comply with the government’s Code of Practice for Consultation, please address your comments to: consultation.coordinator@mcga.gov.uk , fax: +44 023 8032 9122, or by post to: Consultation Co-ordinator, Corporate Secretariat, Bay 3/26, Spring Place, 105 commercial Road Southampton, SO15 1EG. You can use the feedback form at the end of this letter for this purpose. Please note this address should not be used for comments on the subject matter of the consultation.
Yours sincerely
Richard Blakemore
Consultees
UK authorised Classification Societies
The Chamber of Shipping
Nautilus
Fishing Industry Safety Group
National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations and Fish Producer Organisations
High Speed Craft Advisory Group
Domestic Passenger Ship Steering Group
Operators of unclassed vessels
Red Ensign Group
Marine & Fisheries Agency
The Scottish Government Sea Fisheries Division
Scottish Executive
Department of Agriculture & Rural Development
Welsh Assembly Government
Independent Radio Engineers
Appendix
Freedom of Information Act
Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal information, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 1998 (DPA) and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004).
If you want the information that you provide to be treated as confidential, please be aware that, under the FOIA, there is a statutory Code of Practice with which public authorities must comply and which deals, amongst other things, with obligations of confidence. In view of this it would be helpful if you could explain to us why you regard the information you have provided as confidential. If we receive a request for disclosure of the information we will take full account of your explanation, but we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the Department.
The Department will process your personal data in accordance with the DPA and in the majority of circumstances; this will mean that your personal data will not be disclosed to third parties.
Code of Practice on Consultation
The Code of Practice on Consultation provides guidance on how a Consultation should be conducted. This is structured around six consultation criteria, which are:
Consult widely throughout the process, allowing a minimum of 12 weeks for written consultation at least once during the development of the policy.
Be clear about what your proposals are, who may be affected, what questions are being asked and the timescale for responses.
Ensure that your consultation is clear, concise and widely accessible.
Give feedback regarding the responses received and how the consultation process influenced the policy.
Monitor your department’s effectiveness at consultation, including through the use of a designated consultation co-ordinator.
Ensure your consultation follows better regulation best practice, including carrying out a Regulatory Impact Assessment if appropriate.
A full version of the Code of Practice on Consultation can be found at: http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file44364.pdf.
MCA CONSULTATION FEEDBACK FORM
1. Please indicate on which Consultation you are providing feedback:
2a. Please indicate whether you are responding on behalf of:
(Please cross one box)
Yourself as | A Trade |
| A Company |
| A Government | ||
A Trade | Other |
2b. Please indicate whether you accessed this consultation package through:
(Please cross one box)
| Post |
| Website |
3. Please rate the quality of this consultation regarding accuracy, good English and spelling:
(Please cross one box)
Very Good | Good | Average | Poor | Very Poor |
4. Please rate the format of the consultation presentation (layout, Annexes etc):
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5. Please rate the consultation in terms of how clear and concise you felt it was:
(Please cross one box)
| Very good | Good | Average | Poor | Very Poor |
6. Did you feel that the consultation was conducted over a sufficient period of time?
YES [ ] NO [ ]
7. Were any representative groups, organisations or companies not consulted who you felt should have been?
YES [ ] NO [ ]
If YES, _______________________________________________________________________________
who?
8. Please let us have any suggestions for improvement or other comments you wish to make about this consultation below:
Thank you for your time. Please return this form to:
Consultation Co-ordinator,
Maritime and Coastguard Agency,
Spring Place, Bay 3/26,
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
Or e-mail it to: consultation.coordinator@mcga.gov.uk
If you are happy to supply your name in case we need to contact you to discuss your views further, please enter it below (this is optional and your feedback will still be taken into account if you wish to remain anonymous):
Name:
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Please note that the deadline for responses to the Consultation itself does not apply to the return of this form.
Click here for MGN XXX (M+F) Radio Survey Service: Authorisation (PDF file 225KB)
Click here for Impact Assessment of changes to the Merchant Shipping Radio Survey Service (PDF file 274KB)