§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many personal injury accidents involving jet-skis have taken place in UK waters in each of the last five years. [83314]
§ Mr. JamiesonH.M Coastguard incident reports record a total of 895 incidents involving personal watercraft between 1 January 1997 and 22 November 2002 around the UK coastline. No information is available on the number of personal injuries.
§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the number of jet-skis in use in England and Wales. [83315]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department does not keep statistics on the number of jetskis in use in England and Wales.
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§ Tim LoughtonTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what guidance his Department has issued to promote safe use of jet-skis to(a) individual owners, (b)local authorities with responsibility for beaches and (c)port and marina operators. [83319]
§ Mr. JamiesonMy Department takes the view that it is the responsibility of UK local authorities and harbour authorities to regulate personal watercraft using local bye-law powers. As such, no guidance has been issued, to date, to local authorities, although the Department is currently involved in an exercise to produce relevant information. A guide to Good Practice on Port Marine Operations was published for harbour operators in March 2002.
With regard to individual owners, the Department has produced a nationally distributed 'Voluntary Code of Practice for Leisure Users', which provides safety information to personal watercraft users. Additionally, along with national sporting bodies, manufacturers, and water safety organisations, it is conducting an ongoing safety campaign to encourage training and better awareness of the users' responsibilities.