Merchant Shipping (Pollution) Bill [Lords]

I beg to move, That the Bill be now read the Third time. I thank the House and the Opposition parties for the constructive and helpful way in which they have approached the Bill. It was deliberately made a short and focused Bill to speed its passage through Parliament. The whole House agrees that we urgently need the protection of the legislation. Once it is on the statute book, it will improve greatly the compensation available for oil pollution and give us powers to introduce measures to reduce air pollution from ships. The international oil pollution compensation fund currently provides up to £168 million of compensation, but, unfortunately, in the case of major incidents such as the Prestige, that amount is not always sufficient. During our consideration of the Bill, the hon. Members for Canterbury (Mr. Brazier) and for Scarborough and Whitby (Mr. Goodwill), for example, noted that compensation payments in respect of the Prestige were for a long time limited to just 15 per cent. of the amount claimed. The IOPC funds have now arranged for payments to be increased to about 30 per cent. of the amount claimed, but, unfortunately, there is no more money available and we know that those claims will never be paid in full. Even when the overall costs of an incident do not exceed the limit of the IOPC fund, full payment of claims has often been delayed until the full extent of the damage is known and the final costs of an incident can be accurately assessed. Depending on the incident, that process could take months or even years. We experienced such delays following both the Braer and the Sea Empress incidents. With the Bill, I hope that we will not have to face such a situation again. In Committee, my hon. Friend the Member for Great Yarmouth (Mr. Wright) drew our attention to an incident that occurred some years ago. The Eleni V ran aground in May 1978, spilling 5,000 tonnes of persistent oil, which affected shellfish areas and recreational beaches. I understand that the local authorities incurred considerable costs in responding to the incident and payment of compensation was delayed for three or four years. The IOPC fund entered into force five months after the incident. Had it been in force, I suspect that those claims would have been settled much more quickly. That incident demonstrates the importance of implementing such instruments as quickly as practicable. A delay of months, or just weeks, can have serious consequences, so I am grateful for the support and co-operation that we have received from both sides of the House as the Bill has progressed. The Government intend to accede to the protocol as soon as possible. We have drafted the Order in Council that will be used to implement the supplementary fund protocol under clause 1. An advanced draft of the Order in Council was sent to all Members who attended Second Reading. Copies were also placed in the Library. The draft order is now undergoing final checks, which will be completed in the very near future so that the order is ready by the time that the Bill receives Royal Assent. I repeat my grateful thanks to the House for its co-operation and commend the Bill’s Third Reading to the House.