Committee
Transport and the Environment Committee, 18 Mar 2003
18 Mar 2003 · S1 · Transport and the Environment Committee
Item of business
Railways and Transport Safety Bill
I am grateful to the committee for allocating time for the consideration of the Sewel motion, which relates to important issues concerning drug and alcohol testing for mariners. I am happy to summarise the key points involved and to recommend consent to the Sewel motion.We need to bring the issue to the committee's attention because judgments elsewhere in the UK have created some ambiguity about interpreting the legislation. We want to make the position clear and remove those ambiguities. We believe that the principles of the bill will command wide support and that it is right that we should seek to have consistency across the UK on the issue of maritime safety.The memorandum sets out how the UK Government's policy on the issue has evolved. Alcohol and drug testing was proposed following reviews of river safety after the Marchioness disaster on the River Thames in 1989. Recommendations were made for legislation to introduce alcohol testing for mariners similar to the arrangements that apply to motor vehicle drivers. Those recommendations were accepted by the UK Government and have been included in the Railways and Transport Safety Bill, which is currently before the Westminster Parliament. I will summarise the key points that deal with alcohol and drug testing for mariners. The bill will make it an offence to undertake certain maritime duties while over the prescribed blood alcohol limit and will allow for testing to be conducted. The proposed limit will be set at 80mg of alcohol per 100ml of blood, which is the same limit as applies on the roads. The limit will apply to all on-duty professional mariners and to certain mariners off duty who have a safety responsibility such as for the evacuation of a vessel.The bill will also apply to recreational mariners who are involved in navigating a vessel. In due course, the UK Government will consult on how narrowly that application should be defined. However, the clear intention is to cover all those whose actions might have an impact on safety.It is intended that the bill will apply to all sectors and waters in and around Scotland. That means applying the rules to all craft, such as personal watercraft or jet-skis. It is also intended that the bill should apply to inland waterways as well as to coastal waters. There are two areas where possible ambiguities have arisen from court decisions elsewhere. First, the courts have found that mariners simply messing about in boats on an inland waterway were not strictly speaking involved in navigating as defined in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The bill deals with that by extending the definition of navigation to include any role that relates to the control or direction of the course of a vessel. Secondly, case law has found that not all pleasure craft are covered by the definition of a ship in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. The bill deals with that by extending the drink and drugs provisions to cover all types of craft, including jet-skis and personal watercraft. The definitions of a ship and navigation technically qualify as matters of devolved competence because they are not explicitly covered by the reservations that relate to maritime safety under the Scotland Act 1998. We have therefore come to the view that we should take the opportunity to apply the legislation in Scotland fully. There will be wide agreement that maritime safety is a vital issue and that there is a strong case for the rules to be applied consistently throughout the UK, as happens at present.It is important to see the devolved aspects of the issue in context. Clearly, the provisions involved apply to all other maritime sectors, such as ferries, merchant ships, fishing vessels and cargo ships. Shipping policy and maritime safety issues, including alcohol-testing rules, are reserved matters.On that basis, we are keen to avoid any potentially anomalous situations arising about how organisations such as the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, the Northern Lighthouse Board and the marine accident investigation branch of the Department for Transport should respond within a UK legislative framework. We also want to avoid any delay to the application of the measures in Scotland, because they will be a useful deterrent to future incidents.The Sewel motion is the best course of action in the circumstances. I would have liked to have brought the issue to the committee before now, given that the UK bill is currently before the Westminster Parliament, but clearly the priority for our colleagues there was to reach agreement on how the proposed legislation would apply to devolved matters. This is a good example of how we can use the Sewel motion process in a constructive way that does not impinge on the devolution settlement or on the powers of the Scottish Parliament and that introduces provisions that will benefit the people of Scotland. On that basis, I look for the committee's support and I am happy to answer any questions.
In the same item of business
The Convener:
Lab
I welcome to the Transport and the Environment Committee, for the last time in this parliamentary session, I suspect, the Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Tra...
The Deputy Minister for Enterprise, Transport and Lifelong Learning (Lewis Macdonald):
Lab
I am grateful to the committee for allocating time for the consideration of the Sewel motion, which relates to important issues concerning drug and alcohol t...
Elaine Thomson (Aberdeen North) (Lab):
Lab
I am sure that many people will welcome the bill, which will go a long way towards improving maritime safety. The minister will be well aware of the difficul...
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
The answer to your first point is straightforward. The rules will be enforced on the same basis as alcohol testing is enforced on the roads. A person may be ...
Maureen Macmillan:
Lab
The bill reminds me of an incident from my past involving the Ballachulish ferry on new year's day, a bottle of Chivas Regal drunk on the north side and a fe...
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
There are a number of questions there. You are right that it would be unfortunate and not the intention if the bill resulted in an end to entertaining times ...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
Given that the issue is one of criminal law, why has the Sewel motion come to the Transport and the Environment Committee and not to one of the justice commi...
The Convener:
Lab
The Sewel motion will be considered by the full Parliament; our discussion of the motion is merely in order to aid that consideration. The motion has come to...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
I understand that. However, the issue consists of huge chunks of criminal law. I would have thought it appropriate to give one of the justice committees the ...
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
There are a number of important points. First, to clarify my answer to Maureen Macmillan, the consultation will be on areas of exemption such as for a yachts...
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
Did those who were consulted in Scotland include the organisations that are involved in recreational activities on our inland waterways, such as those who us...
Andrew Maclaren (Scottish Executive Development Department):
My understanding is that the UK consultation encompassed Scottish organisations. For example, the Royal Yachting Association Scotland is an off-shoot of the ...
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
The Royal Yachting Association is one of our standard consultees. I am sure that the Scottish Fishermen's Federation is another.
Bruce Crawford:
SNP
That does not include anglers, however. The biggest participatory sport in this country is angling. Were anglers consulted? They are a key group. We should t...
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
I expect that when the Department for Transport consults on exemptions, it will take a commonsense approach. One aspect that it is considering is the exempti...
Robin Harper:
Green
Do you have up-to-date figures on the number of accidents caused by jet-skis? Can you reassure us that the intention of the secretary of state under part 4 o...
Lewis Macdonald:
Lab
To take the second question first, yes, it is intended to extend the definition of "ship" to cover that anomalous point. On accidents, I refer to a couple of...
The Convener:
Lab
If there are no more questions, that concludes our consideration of the issue. There is no provision under standing orders for the committee to report on the...