Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)

The purpose of this clause is to provide the Secretary of State with a direction-making power.

I agree with the Liberal Democrat spokesman that the Secretary of State is a pretty busy character in this. Knowing Secretaries of State, they do occasionally delegate. You appreciate the formal use of this term.

It is to provide the Secretary of State with a direction-making power to direct a licence holder to take appropriate steps in the event of a breach of licence conditions. For example, if the licence requires equipment to be maintained to a good standard, a direction may require the equipment to be repaired or replaced. This provision is an important part of the suite of enforcement provisions and enables the Secretary of State to take a lighter-touch approach to remedy the breach before considering criminal proceedings, if he considers such an approach would be appropriate.

Moreover, it may not always be sufficient simply to punish the licence holder for breaching a licence provision. The Secretary of State may wish to direct the licence holder to comply in a way that minimises any damage already caused. Before issuing a direction, the Secretary of State must consult the licence holder. This will provide the licence holder with an opportunity to explain why the breach has occurred. If the licence holder fails to comply with the direction, the Secretary of State will have the power to ensure that the necessary action is taken and to recover the costs with financial interest from the licence holder.

The Secretary of State may also make arrangements for any person to comply with the direction on the licence holder’s behalf. Subsection (9) ensures that this clause does not affect any provision made by the licence itself. For instance, the licence may already include a power of direction in certain circumstances. Again, Mr. Amess, it touches on the importance of regular inspection to see whether things are going badly wrong in this respect, so that these directions can be made.

Brian Iddon (Bolton South East, Labour)

I am sorry I have not raised this matter with the Minister previously but it has only just occurred to me during this session. I do not know whether the drafting agents have considered this either, but I think it is worth raising.

In the 2002-2003 session of Parliament, I steered through a private Member’s Bill which became the Marine Safety Act 2003. I had the pleasure to work with the late Lord Donaldson and learned a lot about  safety at sea. My point is that, undoubtedly, some of these transfers of gas will occur using shipping and could be transferred to an onshore facility—it could even conceivably be transferred to an offshore facility such as a spent oil rig or gas rig.

Lord Donaldson’s two major reports on safety at sea led to the setting-up of a person called SOSREP—the Secretary of State’s Representative, representing the Secretary of State for Transport. Together with my legislation and Lord Donaldson’s legislation, that has given SOSREP the powers to direct captains of ships to do whatever it is intended they should do to avoid a catastrophe at sea. These are enormous powers and we are further advanced in this country than any other in the world.

My point is that, if this Bill is giving this Secretary of State powers of direction, is there going to be any conflict with the powers of direction that SOSREP has—who is currently Robin Middleton, based in Southampton. I can conceive of situations where these powers of direction may, indeed, conflict with the powers of direction of SOSREP. I realise the Minister may have difficulty giving me an answer today, but I think this matter should be considered seriously before the Bill becomes an Act of Parliament.

Hugo Swire (East Devon, Conservative)

May I just second what the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East has just said? In my own constituency in East Devon, there has been tremendous concern about ship-to-ship transfers of heavy oil, particularly from Russian ships. More recently, we have had a marine tragedy which could have been a lot worse—that of the ship the MSC Napoli, which the Minister and other members of the Committee will be familiar with. That experience was very interesting, because I first encountered the SOSREP, Robin Middleton, in that capacity, and he did an extremely good job.

At the beginning of that situation, members of the Committee may remember the almost 19th or 18th century wrecking scenes on the beach. There was confusion at the time as to who the lead agency was. In the aftermath of the Napoli having been grounded, there was a misunderstanding or a lack of clarification as to which was the lead agency—whether it was the Devon and Cornwall Constabulary or whether it was SOSREP, in the form of Robin Middleton. On clarification, it was SOSREP who then really took the lead in all this.

I think it is important; I agree with the hon. Member for Bolton, South-East that it does need to be clarified as to the respective roles so that in the event of an emergency, such as the one I have just alluded to, the emergency services—and indeed, all those agencies involved—know who takes the lead position.

Malcolm Wicks (Minister of State (Energy), Department for Business, Enterprise & Regulatory Reform; Croydon North, Labour)

I must confess that, until recently, although I knew about the Secretary of State regulations, in my ignorance I had never heard the term SOSREP before—although, come to think of it, I often feel that I am a SOSREP in various work that I have done in a number of different departments.

The short answer to the questions raised is one that I hope will content the hon. Members, as the SOSREP regulations will apply in the offshore gas regime.