§ Mr. Beithasked the Secretary of State for Trade what consultations he had with the fishing industry before he laid the Fishing Vessels (Safety Provisions) (Amendment) Rules 1977 before Parliament; and whether he has considered alternative appeal procedures to those which will apply under the rules.
§ Mr. Clinton DavisOrganisations representing fishing vessel owners, skippers, fishermen and others concerned were consulted on the draft text. Consideration was given to one proposal for a simpler statutory appeals procedure but this could not be adopted under existing legislation. In response it was explained that appeals to senior professional staff of the Department and to the Secretary of State could be made before the new appeals procedure was invoked.