Marine Oil Pollution (Contingency Plans) (Hansard, 13 March 1997)

§ Mr. Bowis

I have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard agency, Mr. Chris Harris, to write to the hon. Member.

Letter from C. J. Harris to Mr. Gordon Prentice, dated 13 March 1997: The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to your recent Questions about the costs to local authorities of drawing up and maintaining their contingency plans for dealing with marine oil pollution and the adequacy and resilience of these plans. The forthcoming review of the National Contingency Plan will include an exercise to identify the costs to local authorities of preparing and maintaining contingency plans. The National Contingency Plan, maintained by the Agency's Marine Pollution Control Unit (MPCU) states that "each coastal local authority at district, island, county or regional level, should have a contingency plan so that an effective counter-pollution response may be effected speedily at any time." A copy of the August 1996 version is now in the House of Commons Library. Annex 11 of the National Contingency Plan contains a list of items which should be included in local authority plans. MPCU encourages local authorities to submit their plans for the Unit to 291W check that they are consistent with the National Plan. The Unit notifies them of any omissions and may make suggestions for amendments and improvements. MPCU also holds four one week residential training courses for local authority staff, covering all aspects of contingency planning. It encourages local authorities to exercise their plans and carry out training using equipment from MPCU's stockpiles. From time to time MPCU takes part in local authority exercises and incorporates local authorities into MPCU's exercises.