Mrs Anne McIntosh (Shadow Minister, Environment & Transport; Vale of York, Conservative)

I have one little question. The Minister may be aware that the master of the Prestige is still under house arrest, presumably under international law provisions, in northern Spain after the disaster off the north coast of Spain. It would appear that clause 98, taken together with clause 99, which refers to the creation of a criminal offence, gives the Government wide powers to apprehend the master of a vessel. Has the Minister thought through the possible consequences of that? It would be good to hear that, as with clause 97, these powers are modelled on similar provisions in relation to oil and gas installations. I should be interested to know whether any person has been apprehended under those regulations.

Mr Nigel Griffiths (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department of Trade and Industry; Edinburgh South, Labour)

I am sure that we can make inquiries about that. I hope that it helps the Committee to know that we have set out in the Bill certain defences that are available to a defendant who could not have known that a safety zone was in existence, even if reasonable inquiries had been made. We have also provided for a situation where the master of the vessel or the person responsible has shown that all reasonable steps were taken to prevent the contravention of the safety zone. I am advised that that defence might apply where the navigational gear of a vessel had been damaged and, despite every reasonable effort being made, it could not be repaired and the vessel was blown or carried by the currents into the safety zone. We are covering the practicalities.

Clause 97, which makes violation of the provisions of a safety zone notice or regulations under clause 90 a criminal offence, is an essential part of the safety zone regime. I hope that, with that explanation, the Committee will agree that the clause stand part of the Bill.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 98 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Clauses 99 to 101 ordered to stand part of the Bill.