HC Deb 24 October 1983 vol 47 cc40-1W
Mr. Gould

asked the Secretary of State for Transport (1) if he will make a statement on the progress of the consultations being undertaken by the Pilotage Commission on the proposals to reduce the surplus of United Kingdom marine pilotage by some 40 per cent.;

(2) when he expects the Pilotage Commission to report to him its findings about the reactions of various parts of the shipping industry to the Samuel Montagu report on aspects of pilotage;

(3) if he will list all the bodies and individuals who have been consulted by the Pilotage Commission so far on the findings of the Samuel Montagu report on aspects of pilotage; and if he will also list those further bodies and indiviuals the commission still intends to consult.

Mr. David Mitchell

[pursuant to his reply, 25 July 1983, c. 479]: In August last Samuel Montagu and Co. Ltd. was invited by the Under-Secretary of State for Trade to advise him on the financial implications of proposals put to him by the Pilotage Commission for paying compensation to surplus pilots; and in March, after considering the Samuel Montagu recommendations, he asked the commission to take the matter forward as quickly as possible with representatives of the interests concerned, in order to establish whether the recommendations provided a basis for agreement.

The Samuel Montagu report said that there was no authoritative basis for estimating the number of pilots surplus but that a figure of 600 would test the true extent of the surplus.

That is about 43 per cent. of the present total number of pilots.

I am told the commission has consulted the General Council of British Shipping, the Passenger Shipping Association, the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers, the United Kingdom Pilots' Association, the Transport and General Workers' Union, the Association of Pilotage Authorities of the United Kingdom, the British Ports Association, and the pilots' national pension fund. The commission, I understand, does not at present envisage consulting any other bodies.

I am told the commission hopes to be able to reach conclusions by the end of the year, although I fully recognise the difficulties that may stand in the way of agreement.