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Shipping: Light Dues

My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Paul Clark) has made the following Ministerial Statement. I wish to inform the House of the publication of a consultants’ report entitled Assessment of the provision of marine aids to navigation around the United Kingdom and Ireland, and of a revision to the planned level of light dues rates from 1 April 2010. On 10 June, I informed the House that the Department for Transport and the Irish Department of Transport had agreed to undertake an independent assessment of aids to navigation around the UK and Ireland. Subsequently, the department awarded a contract to Atkins, which has now completed the assessment. The report of the assessment makes over 50 recommendations, many of which will be demanding of the three General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs), and the two Governments, or which challenge long-standing assumptions about delivery and charging for the provision of aids to navigation. Key recommendations include: the creation of a GLA Joint Strategic Board to drive efficiencies; the use of an annual target reduction calculator (RPI-X%) for GLA running costs; and the development of a "roadmap" agreed with the Irish Government on the financing of the Commissioners of Irish Lights, setting out an incentivised financial model, which retains the all-Ireland body while allowing its costs within the Republic of Ireland to be covered wholly from Irish sources. The report also contains recommendations concerning the management of the General Lighthouse Fund and the charging of light dues. Many of the recommendations can be implemented quickly. Others will prove challenging and we will need to consult widely on some before deciding how to proceed. Nevertheless I welcome the Atkins report, which offers a blueprint for the provision, management and funding of aids to navigation for many years to come. The report will shortly be posted on the department’s website and copies will be placed in the Libraries of the House. Last June, I also announced the first increases in light dues since 1993. They comprised a twofold set of increases, with the changes due to take effect on 1 July 2009 and 1 April 2010, providing payers with more time to prepare for the second rise and price their services accordingly. The General Lighthouse Fund that finances the expenditure of the GLAs is now, as a result of careful administration and management, together with better than expected investment income returns over the last year, in a more robust position than was previously forecast. We have also worked closely with the GLAs to identify efficiency savings over and above the 5.6 per cent reductions I announced last year with further reductions being made in 2010-11, largely in back-office running costs. The Atkins report also makes recommendations to deliver further GLA efficiencies over time. All of these outcomes have reduced anticipated future calls on the General Lighthouse Fund. In the light of these factors, and having listened to the views of the GLAs and the Lights Advisory Committee representing shipping industry light dues payers, I have reviewed the level of light dues needed to maintain the fund at a viable level. As a result, I have concluded that we should now implement a smaller increase in light dues levels. I am therefore reducing by 2p the increase in light dues to be paid on and after the 1 April so that the rate will stand at 41p per net registered tonne from that time. As previously announced, the tonnage cap will increase to 40,000 net registered tonnes, reflecting the increasing size of vessels that make up the world fleet. I have chosen this course of action to ensure that the General Lighthouse Fund remains able to finance the GLAs and ensure the safety of all mariners, while recognising the difficult economic times that the shipping industry continues to experience.