§ Mr. Campbellasked the Secretary of State for Energy when he proposes to appoint any consulting engineers as certifying authorities for the certification of offshore installations.
§ Dr. J. Dickson MabonWhen my right hon. Friend's predecessor announced the appointment of the present five certifying authorities he also said that he was considering making a limited number of further appointments from among consulting engineers. The reason was not dissatisfaction with the certifying authorities whom he had just appointed, but a wish to bring groups based on civil engineering expertise directly into the field of certification, as well as ship classification societies. My right hon. Friend is accordingly appointing Halcrow, Ewbank and Associates Certification Group as a certifying authority under the provisions of the Offshore Installations (Construction and Survey) Regulations 1974. The group has been formed by Sir William Halcrow and Partners with Ewbank and Partners Ltd., Harris and Sutherland, Burness. Corlett and Partners Ltd., and Messrs. Sandberg.
Following representations from the Association of Consulting Engineers on such further appointments it was agreed that the association should set up an independent committee comprising members nominated by the presidents of the principal engineering institutions which would draw up a very limited list of candidates from among consulting engineers for my right hon. Friend's consideration. In agreeing to this course the then Under-Secretary of State said that, to ensure new appointees were measured against the same standards as those used to assess the suitability of the present five certifying authorities, our Offshore Installations Technical Advisory Committee would independently have to assess the suitability of those put forward. The independent committee was led by Professor Sir Owen Saunders and put forward, in strict confidence, a limited list of candidates as requested.
2WI must emphasise that we recognise, as did the independent committee, that there are other fully competent organisations apart from those put forward. However, my right hon. Friend concluded that the volume of new certification work at present expected justified the appointment of only one new certifying authority.
The five organisations from which the new group has been formed are all independent professional firms which are bound by rules of professional conduct to act completely independently of commercial interests, and to behave with financial integrity and impartiality. We are confident that this forms a proper basis for the new certifying group to perform the functions of a certifying authority for offshore installations on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf and that the appointment of this group as a further certifying authority will, together with the present five certifying authorities, further enhance our reputation in setting the highest standards of safety in offshore petroleum operations.