David Unsworth
Bay 2/29
Spring Place
105 Commercial Rd
Southampton
SO15 1EG
United Kingdom

Tel:+44 (0)23 8083 9632
Fax:+44 (0)23 8032 9204
E-mail:  david.unsworth@mcga.gov.uk

Your ref:                
Our ref:MS 84/5/1

22 July 2008

Dear Colleague,

The Safety of Hire Boats on Inland Waterways

Background

On 19 July 2003, the self-drive hire boat “Breakaway V” capsized on the River Bure, sadly resulting in the loss of one life.

The Dept for Transport’s Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) investigated the incident, which was subsequently published in Report No. 2/2004. Amongst the recommendations are two which were addressed to the Local Authorities and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), as follows:

Recommendation No:Recommendation:
The Local Authorities are recommended to:   
2004/122

Assume responsibility for ensuring that hire boats operate safely within their area of interest by arranging the introduction of licensing regimes supported by the inspection of hire craft by competent bodies.
The Maritime & Coastguard Agency is recommended to:   
2004/123Form and chair a working group of key interested parties including inland navigation authorities, local authorities, and the hire boat industry, to draw on current best practice to:
    a.Agree on how licensing regimes operated by inland navigation and local authorities can be co-ordinated to ensure full coverage of the UK inland waterways, and to seek the empowerment of appropriate inland navigation authorities to license if required.
     b.Develop within 24 months, a national code of safe practice for boats let for hire on inland waterways, to include, as a minimum, requirements for hire boat construction, stability, fitness for purpose, life saving equipment, and handover procedures.
    c. Liaise with the DTI to clarify the impact of the requirements of the RCD on any national code of practice and licensing requirements for pleasure craft let for hire, and provide ongoing advice to the DTI regarding deficiencies and areas of concern in this respect.

To take these issues forward, the MCA has convened a series of Working Groups with the relevant stakeholders and specifically with regard to the purpose of this consultation a Licensing Working Group has been established with the specific remit of taking forward recommendations 2004/122 and 2004/123, and in particular with regard to this consultation,123b.

As such, consultees are requested to consider and provide comments on the draft Hire Boat Code attached. These comments will be considered by the Licensing Working Group with a view to finalising the text prior to formal acceptance and publication.

Your comments are requested on the proposed amendments outlined above and in the attached documentation. In particular, we would appreciate your views on the possible cost implications that may arise as a result of this amendment. The closing date for this consultation is 24 October 2008. Please send your replies to:

David Unsworth
Technical Support Team (Ships)
Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Bay 2/25, Spring Place
105 Commercial Rd
Southampton
SO15 1EG

or email: david.unsworth@mcga.gov.uk

Responses, and any comments that the MCA has on them, will be published on the website as soon as possible after the consultation period has finished.

Freedom of Information Act

Please also note that 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

MCA has set out to conduct this consultation in accordance with the following Cabinet Office criteria:

  • 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;
  • Should you have any comments or complaints about how this consultation has been conducted please direct them to the MCA’s Consultation Co-ordinator:

Consultation Coordinator
Office of the Chief Executive
MCA
Bay 3/29, Spring Place
105 Commercial Rd
Southampton
SO15 1EG
consultation.coordinator@mcga.gov.uk  Tel: 02380329189

  • Consultation List Web page 
  • Draft Hire Boat Code Web page 
    The approach adopted in this non-statutory Code is based on the foreseeable risks of hire boating activity and recognises the responsibilities that navigation authorities, hire operators and hirers have in ensuring adequate levels of safety.
  • Consultation Responses Web page