§ Lord Kennetasked Her Majesty's Government:
Whether they will now answer in the nearest possible form his Written Question of 13th July 1981, namely, "What are the most recent figures available to them on safety of navigation between Ushant and Dover with particular reference to the presence on board or not, as the case may be, of pilots, distinguishing between pilots from various British ports and from various non-British ports", which they answered on 22nd July 1981 as follows: "The information is not available in the form requested".
§ Lord TrefgarneMy department keeps statistics in relation to casualties involving United Kingdom registered ships wherever they occur, but casualties involving foreign ships are recorded only when they occur within the limit of United Kingdom territorial waters. In 1979, the most recent year for which figures are available, in the sea area bounded by a line joining Land's End with Pointe de St.-Mathieu in the west and a line joining North Foreland with Dunkirk in the east, there were eight casualties to United Kingdom registered ships and to foreign ships that were within United Kingdom territorial waters at the time of the incident. In the same year I believe there were at least a further 15 casualties in the Dover Strait, in the sea area bounded by the Greenwich meridian in the west and a line joining North Foreland and Dunkirk in the east. There is no record that a pilot was on hoard any of the vessels concerned at the time these incidents occurred.