Natacha Southwell
Bay 2/27 Marine Technology Unit
Spring Place
105, Commercial Rd
Southampton
SO15 1EG
United Kingdom

Tel:+44 (0)23 8083 9114
Fax:+44 (0)23 8032 9162
E-mail: Natacha.Southwell@mcga.gov.uk

Your ref:
Our ref:

16^th December 2008

Dear Consultee,

Consultation on a draft Marine Guidance Note (MGN) “Compatibility of Life-Saving Equipment”

Please see the attached draft MGN on guidance concerning the compatibility of some life saving equipment.

Information provided in the MGN is intended to provide guidance when taking into account the issue of compatibility of immersion suits and lifejackets when jointly used. The MGN provides guidance in addition to that provided in the Life- Saving Code (LSA Code) and addresses issues with regard to the wider issue of compatibility and suitability of lifejackets and immersion suits when worn together, such as buoyancy, flotation position and self-righting performance.

You are invited to make comment on this document either by e-mail to  Natacha.Southwell@mcga.gov.uk or fax to 023 80 341962 or post to the following address:

Natacha Southwell

Marine Technology Unit
Bay 2/27 Spring Place
105, Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG

by noon on the 9 March 2009. This consultation will be posted on the MCA website and, 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

Natacha Southwell

Consultation Document

DRAFT MGN: Compatibility of Life-Saving Equipment (PDF 207KB)

Consultees

Chamber of Shipping

Nautilus

ILAMA

SEAC

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.