>HYDROGRAPHER'S DEPARTMENT, ROYAL NAVY (Hansard, 6 April 1978)

§ Lord WINTERBOTTOM

The following is the information forwarded to my noble friend under my covering letter of 22nd March 1978?—

(a)Why are monies earned by the Department in the process of "paying particular attention to its commercial potential" as it is required to, not ploughed back into the Department?

As Lord Oram pointed out on 25th January in the House of Lords debate on Tanker Safety and Pollution Prevention, the proceeds from the Hydrographer's revenue-earning activities are paid into Defence Votes as Appropriations-in-Aid. They are not paid directly to the Hydrographic Department: the latter is an integral part of the Ministry of Defence and, in common with most other activities borne on the Defence Budget, the expenditure it incurs is spread across several Defence Votes, e.g. Vote 1 (Navy Pay and Allowances), Vote 6 (Civilian Pay), Vote 8 (Sea Systems Procurement), while hydrographic receipts are credited to Vote 5. None the less, full account is taken of the revenue earning capability of hydro-graphic activities in determining expenditure priorities, subject to the total defence budgetary context.

(b)Whether, in calculating the value to the United Kingdom of the Hydrographer's work for Iran in the Gulf at £11 million, any figure for costs has been allowed in respect of delays in any surveying required by?—

(i) the Ministry of Defence, and—
(ii) other Departments (e.g. of traffic lanes, etc) in British waters, and whether such costs do not constitute a concealed subsidy?

The price agreed with the Iranian Government does not include an allowance to cover the opportunity cost of carrying out the survey and it would not be the normal practice to do so.

(c) Whether the Department is appropriately equipped with vessels and staff to "exploit its economic potential" to the full, and whether the FCO examines the potential market world-wide?

The future exploitation of the Hydro-graphic Service's commercial potential is currently under consideration. The FCO is fully alive to the need to assess the potential market worldwide. Furthermore the Ministry of Overseas Development receives occasional inquiries from overseas countries about the possibility of the Hydrographer's undertaking surveys of their waters. As for the separate question of increasing chart sales, the boom in recreational sailing and boating is just one opportunity of which the Hydrographer is well aware.

(d) What contribution the Department of Trade makes towards the costs of the Hydrographer's Department in view of its overall responsibilities for safety at sea?

In his letter of 14th February, Lord Oram explained that the Department of Trade does not contribute directly to the costs of hydrography although the shipping industry worldwide and, particularly, British shipping in the United Kingdom market, continues to make a contribution by way of its purchase of charts and other publications produced by the Hydrographer.

The Department is, however, very conscious of its responsibilities and as a matter of urgency is examining with the Ministry of Defence and other relevant Departments the future arrangements for hydrographic surveying.

(e) What proportion of designated shipping lanes off the British coast and of areas within which traffic schemes are in operation have been surveyed to the highest modern standards?

312WA

There is nothing I can add to the following reply given by Lord Oram in his letter of 14th February: Of the combined IMCO designated deep water routes and traffic separation schemes, North Sea Hydrographic Commission trunk routes and Marine Advisory Council routes, some 30 per cent. have been surveyed to full modern standards".

(f) Whether they are considering the construction of a £3 billion gas-gathering pipeline network in the North Sea and, if so, what proportion of the area of the seabed in question has been surveyed, and when, and to what standard, and by what date will the Hyclrographers Department have completed surveys to modern standards of diis whole area?

Gas Gathering Pipelines (North Sea) Limited, a joint public/private sector company set up to investigate the possibilities for gas gathering in the North Sea, is due to present its final report to the Secretary of State for Energy at the end of March. Until the recommendations in that report have been considered, the Government will not be in a position to decide on the best way of proceeding with gas gathering, still less to establish which areas of the seabed might be relevant to any gas gathering pipeline network.

(g) What conclusions did they draw from the recent United Nations Hydrography Conference?

The Government are aware of the draft report of the Group of Experts on Hydrographic Surveying and Nautical Charting, and when the final version is presented we shall consider it with interest.

(h) Whether surveying the British Continental Shelf to modern standards is viewed as part of the cost of the exploitation of the economic resources of the shelf, and if not why not?

Where surveys of particular parts of the United Kingdom Continental Shelf are required in order to facilitate the exploitation of its economic resources, their costs are regarded as part of the overall cost of such economic exploitation.

(i) Whether the Department is being expanded to meet the new demand, arising out of world wide 200 n.m. EEZ 313WA declarations, for hydrographic services and training in hydrography, and if so to what extent?

The Government are aware of the possible enlargement of the hydro-graphic requirement as a result of the extension of zones of national jurisdiction that is likely to ensue from the UN Law of the Sea Conference. The Question of the Hydrographer's response to such potential demands for hydrographic services and training—if and when they arise—depends upon the outcome of current consideration of the future exploitation of the Hydro-graphic Service's commercial potential.

(j) How many vessels does the Hydrographer now maintain over and above those required for the purposes of:

(i) the Ministry of Defence,
(ii) non-defence purposes within United Kingdom jurisdiction,
(iii) current overseas contracts,
(iv) possible overseas contracts?

The existing hydrographic fleet consists of 4 ocean survey ships, 4 coastal survey vessels and 5 inshore survey craft. The allocation of these vessels to defence and non-defence tasks is currently under review.

(k) What Minister is responsible for defining the Hydrographer's non-defence role, and for seeing that the Department is appropriately funded both as regards capital expenditures for new vessels and on-shore facilities and cash flow and that its potential is exploited to the full?

As the Prime Minister explained in a Written Answer on 8th June 1976 (House of Commons Hansard Vol. 912, col. 614), the Lord Privy Seal is responsible for (inter alia) co-ordinating policy in matters connected with the use of the sea and of the seabed, while individual Ministers remain responsible and answerable for the particular functions of their own Departments. The Ministry of Defence operates the hydro-graphic fleet and chairs the Hydrographic Strategic Review Body which reviews the national programme of surveying: the non-defence requirement for hydro-graphic surveys is an amalgam of the 314WA requirements identified for the Ministry of Defence by several other Departments. The Department of Trade is concerned with surveys required in order to ensure the safe navigation of United Kingdom shipping, the Department of Transport with surveys of United Kingdom ports, the Department of Energy with those needed to facilitate the exploitation of energy resources on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf, the Ministry of Overseas Development with requests that developing countries may make for surveys to be financed from the United Kingdom aid programme, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with surveys for overseas countries in general, and the Department of Education and Science (through the Natural Environment Research Council) with research activities. The question of funding the non-defence requirement is currently under consideration.