Merchant Shipping Pollution Bill [HL]

I thank noble Lords for their contributions and I hope to show the noble Lords, Lord Hanningfield and Lord Dixon-Smith, that this section of the Bill is not too alarming. Clause 1(2)(b) ensures that if the international regime is revised at a future date, the government of the day has the option of being part of that international regime at the earliest opportunity. In that sense, my noble friend is right. The provision of the power in the Bill means that the government of the day will have the ability, if they so decide, to implement any new internationally negotiated instruments governing oil pollution compensation without having first to pursue primary legislation. It is fairly obvious that if there is a major oil spill and the issue of compensation comes into play, we do not want to have to resort to a primary legislation process in order to, for instance, raise the limits of the compensation regime. We know that in the past those limits have been raised, but not through primary legislation. I refer noble Lords to the report and recommendations of the Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, which basically feels that the powers within the Bill as it stands are appropriate. It has made certain recommendations which, of course, we accept. We were criticised at Second Reading for the length of time it had taken to bring forward legislation to implement the Supplementary Fund Protocol. Now it appears that we are being criticised for ensuring that we do not find ourselves in a similar position again.