§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the consideration currently being given by his Department, as set out in the Official Report of 12 May, c. 397, to proposals that would shift the basis of pilotage in certain circumstances away from a compulsory to a voluntary regime, in the light of the advance of modern navigational aids; what bodies in the shipping industry he has consulted; what bodies he intends to consult in the near future; what responses he has had so far; and what part the Pilotage Commission is taking in the consideration of this matter;
(2) if he will make a statement on the reappraisal of the pilotage service, as set out in the Official Report on 12 May, c. 397–8, which the Pilotage Commission proposed should be undertaken; what consideration is being given to the proposal that there should be examined the concept of a central pilotage authority, which would be the pilots' employer, and responsible for the provision of all pilotage services in the United Kingdom; what progress the Pilotage Commission has made so far; whom the Commission has consulted; whom it intends to consult; and how long the period of consultation is expected to take.
§ Mr. David MitchellThese questions cover a wide range of difficult and complex matters which I am considering. I expect to make a statement in due course.
§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Transport when his Department last had discussions with the London Wharfingers Association on the implications for it of pilotage dues; what recent discussion the Pilotage 550W Commission has had with the wharfingers association; what major views were put forward; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. David MitchellSo far as I can establish the association has had no discussions about pilotage dues with my Department in recent years. The association made representations to the then Secretary of State for Trade, who had responsibility for pilotage matters, when the draft London pilotage byelaws were under consideration in 1980, 1981 and 1982. These representations, in common with those from other interested parties, were put to the Pilotage Commission and were taken into account by it in its subsequent recommendations.
§ Mr. Gouldasked the Secretary of State for Transport how many pilots are currently working in each of the United Kingdom ports, respectively; what the average number of hours per week actually worked by an individual pilot performing acts of pilotage, as opposed to being on call for such acts, in each post, respectively, is; and whether he has information as to the average annual gross earnings for an individual pilot, given for each port, respectively.
§ Mr. David MitchellInformation in this form is not readily available, and I regret that the cost of securing it would be out of proportion. However, I am placing in the Libraries of both Houses copies of the Pilotage Commission's summary of pilotage returns for 1982, which has just been published. This gives pilots' numbers and average annual gross earnings for first class pilots on a district basis at the latest available date: 31 December 1982.