§ Mr. Sayeedasked the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list in the Official Report those types of survey of merchant ship hulls and machinery carried out on his behalf; how many surveys of each type were undertaken in the most recently available 12-month period; how many of these surveys were carried out by his own surveyors and how many by outside agencies acting on his behalf; how many of the surveys carried out by his surveyors duplicated surveys carried out by other agencies; and what assessment he has made of the scope for further simplification or delegation of his survey work.
§ Mr. Michael SpicerStatutory survey of hulls and machinery of merchant ships are carried out in respect of the issue of passenger ship safety certificates, cargo ship safety construction certificates and load line certificates. These surveys are undertaken on a continuous basis over a five-year cycle and the figures requested are not readily available in any 12-month period.
Surveys required for the issue of the cargo ship safety construction certificate and the load line certificate—which constitutes a major proportion of this work—have been delegated to five classification societies—the Department's surveyors dealing only with those ships which are not "classed". Although precise figures are not available for the classification societies involved it is estimated that they issue more than six times the number of certificates issued by my Department. There is no duplication of work.
In the case of foreign-going passenger ships the survey of hull and machinery is undertaken by my Department and where a ship is "classed" also by the classification society. In 1985 a total of 85 passenger ship safety certificates were issued in respect of foreign-going ships. To reduce as far as possible any duplication, my Department will accept work undertaken by a classification society up to 50 per cent. of all running surveys on class I passenger ships. In addition, other measures have recently been agreed with the industry to cut costs as I stated in reply to a question tabled by my hon. Friend on 24 November 1986. In assessing the scope for further delegation I must take into account, in the public interest, the safety of the many who travel on passenger ships.