§ Mr. Thorntonasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about the chairmanship of the Pilotage Commission.
§ Mr. David MitchellI have appointed Mr. James Davidson, CBE as the chairman of the Pilotage 449W Commission in succession to Dr. Denis Rebbeck, CBE. Mr. Davidson took up his appointment on 7 November; he has been a member of the commission since 1979.
I would wish to pay special tribute to Dr. Rebbeck for his most distinguished leadership of the commission since its establishment in 1979. The tasks facing the commission during its formative years have been onerous and demanding. Whilst it has not been possible for me as yet to reach conclusions on the future direction of pilotage, the commission, under Dr. Rebbeck's leadership, has made a series of detailed recommendations on future actions; these will be of the greatest assistance to me in taking important decisions in the near future.
Dr. Rebbeck has been a most distinguished figure in industrial, commercial and academic life, particularly in Northern Ireland and Scotland, and I would not wish his retirement from the Pilotage Commission to pass without reference to his notable record of public service in a very wide variety of forms over a period of more than 30 years, culminating, in the last decade, in his great contribution to the development of pilotage policy.