To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Roads and Motoring, Mike Penning, on 3 November (HC Deb, col 801W) stating that they will no longer fund the Anglian Prince tugboat as an emergency towing vessel, whether they will apply the same financial criteria to the provision of emergency aids to navigation and instruct the General Lighthouse Authorities to reduce their costs by using commercial vessels.

Less than 2 per cent of the operational time of the ships currently owned and operated by the General Lighthouse Authorities is spent on average dealing with emergency hazards and aids to navigation casualties. The Department for Transport reviews the provision of the vessels regularly as part of the fleet review process, the last review concluding in 2009.