Draft Marine Bill: Report and formal minutes

Draft Marine Bill: Report and formal minutes PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780104013427
Category : Coastal zone management
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
The Marine Bill was designed to establish a new UK-wide strategic system of marine planning to balance conservation, energy and resource needs, based on the principle of sustainable development and working with the devolved administrations. The Committee reports here reservations about the framework nature of the draft Bill. It was felt that too much of its policy is contained in secondary legislation or guidance. That there are significant areas of confusion of responsibility - between UK and international, especially EU, obligations; between devolved adminstrations; the many agencies and other bodies who will be involved in delivering the proposals in the Bill.

Draft Marine Bill: Report and formal minutes

Draft Marine Bill: Report and formal minutes PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. Joint Committee on the Draft Marine Bill
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780104013427
Category : Coastal zone management
Languages : en
Pages : 158

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Book Description
The Marine Bill was designed to establish a new UK-wide strategic system of marine planning to balance conservation, energy and resource needs, based on the principle of sustainable development and working with the devolved administrations. The Committee reports here reservations about the framework nature of the draft Bill. It was felt that too much of its policy is contained in secondary legislation or guidance. That there are significant areas of confusion of responsibility - between UK and international, especially EU, obligations; between devolved adminstrations; the many agencies and other bodies who will be involved in delivering the proposals in the Bill.

Draft Marine Bill

Draft Marine Bill PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215522030
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 48

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Book Description
The Government published its Draft Marine Bill on 3 April 2008 as Cm 7351 (ISBN 9780101735124). The Government proposes to legislate to give people right of access on foot all around the English coast. The Committee remains dissatisfied about the uncertainty that surrounds the process of pre-legislative scrutiny as exemplified by this case. The Committee was surprised at the vague and uncommunicative way that the Government deals with the House in preparing for such scrutiny. When the Government is preparing draft bills in the future, it should inform the Liaison Committee which should recommend, in consultation with the relevant departmental select committee, how pre-legislative scrutiny should be conducted. The Bill places too much emphasis on trusting Natural England to "get it right" in terms of determining the alignment of the route and extent of spreading room; landowners and occupiers, in particular, are entitled to more concrete safeguards especially as the Government intends to strike a "fair balance" between public and private interests. The lack of a formal appeal process is a fundamental weakness of the Bill. The Committee is still to be convinced that £5 million a year for 10 years is enough to create access land all around England. The Government should also clarify responsibility for long-term maintenance before the Bill is introduced. The more detail Natural England can provide early on about how it intends to implement the policy in common coastal scenarios will reduce concerns. Natural England should produce a detailed draft of its Scheme before Parliament starts to consider the Bill. Natural England should have a statutory duty written into the Bill to conduct a review of the lessons it has learned from early implementation of the proposals.

Proposals for a Draft Marine Bill

Proposals for a Draft Marine Bill PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Environmental Audit Committee
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780215030207
Category : Marine resources development
Languages : en
Pages : 111

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Book Description
The Committee's report examines the Government's proposals for a new Marine Bill, as set out in its consultation paper (details are available at http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/latest/2006/water-0329.htm) published in March 2006, which proposes an integrated framework for the management of the marine environment, designed to deliver clean, healthy, safe, productive and biologically diverse oceans and seas. The report considers a range of issues under the following headings: the legislative background to the Bill and its planned timetable; the scope of the Bill and its five key themes; the consultation process, the work of Defra and liaison with other departments; devolution issues; marine spatial planning and a new marine management organisation; marine protected areas; and data issues.

The Draft Marine Navigation Bill

The Draft Marine Navigation Bill PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780215522238
Category : Harbors
Languages : en
Pages : 132

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Book Description
The Draft Marine Navigation Bill was published on 6 May 2008. (Cm. 7370, ISBN 9780101737029 ). A supplementary consultation on the ratification of the Nairobi Convention on the Removal of Wrecks, for which the draft Bill includes the necessary statutory provisions, was published at the same time by the Department for Transport. The Bill covers four main areas: (a) port safety, including measures relating to pilotage, National Occupational Standards for Harbour Masters and pilots, and extending powers of general direction to more harbour authorities; (b) the closure of harbours, and the subsequent relinquishing of the legal rights and duties of the harbour authority; (c) the role of the General Lighthouse Authorities, including their powers of enforcement, the territorial extent of their operations, their commercial work and their pension schemes; and (d) the ratification and implementation of the Nairobi Convention. The introduction of new powers to issue directions to port and harbour authorities and to specify minimum standards of competence for harbour masters and pilots is supported. The provisions relating to General Lighthouse Authorities are a sensible package intended to clarify their powers and put beyond doubt the legal validity of much of the essential work which they have been carrying out for centuries. The provision in the draft Bill to give statutory effect Nairobi International Convention on the Removal of Wrecks will remove from the UK taxpayer a significant potential liability in respect of wrecks in UK waters.

The Marine Policy Statement

The Marine Policy Statement PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215556134
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 44

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Book Description
The Committee welcomes the production of the Marine Policy Statement as the first step in the implementation of marine planning in the UK. It is important that the Marine Management Organisation (MMO) must be properly funded to carry out its work in implementing the MPS and developing marine plans for English waters, and the Committee notes the announced cuts to the MMO's budget with concern. It is important that the MPS remains relevant and up-to-date if it is effectively to guide decision makers in the future, and significant changes to the evidence on which it is based must be reflected in the contents of the MPS, but reviews should not be unnecessary or costly. The report notes the concerns raised by consultees regarding the level of detailed guidance on the interaction between terrestrial and marine planning. The Committee comments on the absence of detailed guidance about policy priorities in the draft MPS, and feels it is essential that sufficient clarity is provided in individual marine plans. Finally, the Committee welcomes assurances that the fishing industry will not be adversely affected by implementation of the MPS, and will look to see that this is borne out in the development of marine plans.

Legislative Scrutiny

Legislative Scrutiny PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. Joint Committee on Human Rights
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780108444869
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
The Committee's eleventh report, HL 69/HC 396, session 2008-09 (ISBN 9780104425060) also discussed the Marine & Coastal Access Bill. Evidence is also presented concerning the Draft Coroner's Bill (Cm. 6849, ISBN 9780101684927). The Rt Hon Jack Straw's response to the Committee's thirteenth report on Prisoner transfer from Libya, (HL 71/HC 398, session 2008-09, ISBN 9780104425077) is included

Ending the Scandal of Complacency

Ending the Scandal of Complacency PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215524034
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 418

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Book Description
Although road accident deaths have halved between 1958 and 2007 whilst the number of licensed motor vehicles and vehicle mileage covered increased by 400 per cent, the current rate of 3,000 deaths and 250,000 injuries is still an unacceptably high level. Road accidents are the largest single cause of death for people between the ages of 5 and 35 in Britain, and road accidents cost our economy some £18 billion each year. The number of deaths and injuries on roads far outweighs the deaths and injuries in other transport modes, and should be viewed as a major public health problem. The Government should establish a British Road Safety Survey to track overall casualty and safety trends, and review current methods for recording road-traffic injuries. The Committee recommends a systems approach to road safety: ensuring the vehicle, the road infrastructure, regulations and driver training are designed to similar safety and performance standards. Other recommendations include: more 20 mph speed limits; a more proactive approach to determining the safety benefits of new vehicle technologies; action on young drivers - who represent a disproportionate risk to road users - and vulnerable users: motorcyclists, elderly and child pedestrians and cyclists, horse riders; a higher priority given to enforcement of drink-drive and drug-drive offences. The Committee recommends the establishment of an independent Road Safety Commission with powers to work across the whole of government, ensuring that a high priority and adequate resources are given to road safety and that all government departments and agencies give active support. The Government should also establish a road accident investigation branch, like those in aviation, rail and marine.

Marine Pilotage

Marine Pilotage PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215054654
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 78

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Book Description
This report questions whether the Department for Transport is striking the appropriate balance between its role as a regulator of port safety and its aim to promote the commercial attractiveness of UK ports. This follows evidence that most ports fail to confirm to Government that they comply with best practice guidance on port safety and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has the resources to conduct just four port 'health checks' each year. Representatives of marine pilots, who guide ships in and out of ports, lack confidence that the Department for Transport understands their concerns and the requirements of their work and shares their aim of enhancing maritime safety. The Committee is opposed to a proposal, supported by Government, to relax the rules on the granting of pilotage exemption certificates to more junior navigating officers which could jeopardise safety. If the Government insists on pressing ahead with this change, the Committee recommends that the impact of the change should be monitored. Other recommendations include that: the Maritime and Coastguard Agency should broaden its safety inspection programme so that it undertakes eight inspections per annum; ports should be required to publish statistics on accidents and near-misses; the Government should use its influence to persuade harbour authorities to accept national standards as to who can be authorised as a pilot: if national standards are not adopted the case for legislation on this issue will be compelling.

The use of airspace

The use of airspace PDF Author: Great Britain: Parliament: House of Commons: Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215539861
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 300

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Book Description
The Government's Future of Air Transport strategy aims to significantly increase UK airport capacity over the next two decades to accommodate the predicted growth in demand for air travel. New runways at Heathrow and Stansted airports are two of the key airport development proposals. If all the White Paper-supported airport development proposals came to fruition, current Government forecasts predict that the number of passengers passing through UK airports will increase from 241 million passengers a year in 2007 to 455 million passengers a year in 2030. This UK growth matches air traffic predictions for the whole continent. Eurocontrol, the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation, predicts that European air traffic will double by 2020. If rising demand for air travel is to be met effectively through additional airport capacity, a corresponding increase in airspace capacity must be realised. However, a country's airspace, the portion of atmosphere above its territory and territorial waters, controlled by that country is a finite resource. UK airspace, particularly in the South East of England, is already some of the busiest and most complex to manage in the world. This will almost certainly require improvements in the efficiency of the UK air traffic management system.The Committee's inquiry aims to look at how to meet these challenges. Its findings are aimed at those organisations responsible for airspace-related decisions in the UK: the CAA, NATS, and the Department for Transport. Passenger numbers and freight demand globally have declined in 2008 and in the first months of 2009. In its conclusions and recommendations the Committee covered the management of airspace, strategy, change and co-ordination in airspace management, environmental impacts of airspace changes and European developments.

Delivering a Sustainable Railway

Delivering a Sustainable Railway PDF Author: Great Britain. Parliament. House of Commons. Transport Committee
Publisher: The Stationery Office
ISBN: 9780215522221
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 426

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Book Description
The White Paper, 'Delivering a sustainable railway' (Cm. 7176, ISBN 9780101717625) published on July 2007 and set the Government's general vision for the railways for the next thirty years. Network Rail's engineering overruns at New Year 2008 caused tremendous inconvenience to passengers across the country and inevitably shaped the Committee's oral evidence sessions. The Committee's investigation, along with analyses from the Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) have led them to believe that the engineering overruns are symptonatic of crucial system flaws which have to be resolved if there is to be any hope of getting a sustainable railway, as promised in the White Paper. This report covers both subjects