Reza Nosrati
Maritime & Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/01
Spring Place
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
Tel: +44 (0)2380329100
Fax: +44 (0)2380239204
E-mail: csst@mcga.gov.uk
Our ref: MS 029/010/0011
1 March 2010
Dear Sir/Madam
Consultation on draft Marine Guidance Note (MGN) entitled “Roll-on/Roll-off Ships: Stowage and Securing of Vehicles”
The proposed MGN which forms the basis of this consultation exercise, has been produced to replace the existing Merchant Shipping Notice No. 1445 (Roll-On/Roll-Off (Ro/Ro) Ships: Stowage and Securing of Vehicles-Code of Practice).
I am writing to invite your comments on the draft MGN which has been published on the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s (MCA) website.
What is the Consultation about?
The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) 2009 report on the investigation of the shift of an articulated road tanker on board the HSS Stena Voyager in Loch Ryan raised concerns with respect to the application of existing Codes and Standards by the industry.
The purpose of this MGN is to raise awareness and remind industry of the appropriate UK regulations and guidance which address the concerns raised by MAIB in the HSS Stena Voyager report.
How to respond
The MCA would appreciate hearing your views on this issue.
The consultation period will begin on 1 March 2010 and will run for 12 weeks until 25 May 2010, please ensure that your response reaches us by that date. If you would like further copies of this consultation document it can be found at:
Please send consultation responses to:
Technical Support Team - Coastal
Bay 2/01
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
105 Commercial Road
Southampton
SO15 1EG
Or email: csst@mcga.gov.uk with the subject header ‘RO-RO Consultation’.
Deadline for receipt of responses
The deadline for response is 25 May 2010. Responses received before that date would be appreciated.
What will happen next?
After the consultation period has ended time will be required for the analysis and presentation of the results. The consultation comments and MCA responses will then be published on the MCA website, in the ‘Closed Consultations’ section:
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.
Consultation Criteria
This consultation has been conducted in accordance with the seven consultation criteria from the Government Code of Practice:
Criterion 1: When to consult
Formal consultation should take place at a stage when there is scope to influence the policy outcome.
Criterion 2: Duration of consultation exercises
Consultations should normally last for at least 12 weeks with consideration given to longer timescales where feasible and sensible.
Criterion 3: Clarity of scope and impact
Consultation documents should be clear about the consultation process, what is being proposed, the scope to influence and the expected costs and benefits of the proposals.
Criterion 4: Accessibility of consultation exercises
Consultation exercises should be designed to be accessible to, and clearly targeted at, those people the exercise is intended to reach.
Criterion 5: The burden of consultation
Keeping the burden of consultation to a minimum is essential if consultations are to be effective and if consultees’ buy-in to the process is to be obtained.
Criterion 6: Responsiveness of consultation exercises
Consultation responses should be analysed carefully and clear feedback should be provided to participants following the consultation.
Criterion 7: Capacity to consult
Officials running consultations should seek guidance in how to run an effective consultation exercise and share what they have learned from the experience.
If you have any comments regarding the conduct of this consultation or feel that it does not comply with the Government Code of Practice please contact the Consultation Co-ordinator at consultation.coordinator@mcga.gov.uk. We are continually trying to improve the way in which we conduct consultations and appreciate your views, so we would also be grateful if you could complete and return the attached feedback questionnaire. These should be submitted to the Consultation Co-ordinator and are not affected by the deadline for this consultation.
Yours faithfully,
Reza Nosrati
Cargo Policy Specialist
Environmental Policy Branch
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