HC Deb 17 April 1972 vol 835 cc11-2
9. Mr. Sutcliffe

asked the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry what criteria he has laid down for certificates of fitness for production platforms under the Mineral Working (Offshore Installations) Act, 1971; and what authority has been appointed to see that they are met.

The Minister for Industry (Mr. Tom Boardman)

Criteria will be included in regulations at present being discussed with those who may be affected. Certificates will be issued by me or by authorities yet to be appointed under the regulations.

Mr. Sutcliffe

I wish my hon. Friend every success in his exacting new responsibilities.

Mr. Arthur Lewis

Here come the brewers.

Mr. Sutcliffe

Is my hon. Friend aware that lack of basic design criteria covering fatigue and other factors is inhibiting British competition in offshore platform construction and that "best-known practices" are no substitute for proper criteria when three different oil companies are basing designs on widely divergent forecasts of wave characteristics in the same area of the North Sea?

Mr. Boardman

I am obliged to my hon. Friend for his good wishes.

My hon. Friend must bear in mind that lengthy consultations are going on. The draft regulations have been fully discussed and are subject to full discussion with those interested. I assure my hon. Friend that the points he made are being taken fully into account.

Mr. Douglas

While echoing the good wishes of the hon. Member for Middlesbrough, West (Mr. Sutcliffe) to the new Minister, may I ask him for an assurance that any recommendations from his Department will be speeded so that there is no delay for British firms wishing to compete in the construction of these rigs, the building of which is extremely important to some areas of the country and particularly to Scotland?

Mr. Boardman

I am obliged to the hon. Gentleman for his opening remarks.

I assure him that this matter is proceeding as fast as possible and that full consultation is going on. Nobody should be inhibited at this stage from proceeding with design and other work.

Mr. Alan Williams

I, too, wish the hon. Gentleman well in his new office.

Is he satisfied that the regulations will be adequate to cover conditions in the Celtic Sea, where climatic conditions can be unprecedented in offshore work?

Mr. Boardman

This is one of the factors which is being taken fully into account, and full environmental conditions are under consideration.