The Minister of State, Department for Transport (Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill) (Lab)

My Lords, the purpose of this draft order is to amend the Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order 1989 and thus to ensure that the full suite of maritime legal powers currently available in relation to ships is also available, where applicable, to regulate hovercraft operating in the United Kingdom. Noble Lords will wish to know that the Joint Committee on Statutory Instruments considered a draft of the order before it was laid and then gave informal pre-laying approval. After the draft order was laid on 1 July, it was formally cleared by the Joint Committee in its Thirty-second Report of Session 2024-25. Likewise, the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee formally cleared the draft order as an instrument not drawn to the special attention of the House in its 32nd Report of Session 2024–25. Prior to this, the MCA responded to preliminary enquiries from the committee’s clerk to the satisfaction of the committee. The background to the order is that the United Kingdom currently has one commercial hovercraft operation comprising two hovercraft which operate in in-shore waters between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight. Those hovercraft are regulated as high-speed craft and comply fully with the existing relevant legislation. The principal piece of legislation governing hovercraft is the Hovercraft Act 1968. The Act enables Orders in Council to be made to bring hovercraft within the scope of any relevant corresponding ship requirements under the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. This is because hovercraft operate at sea in the same way as ships. Using the powers in the 1968 Act, an order was originally made in 1989—the Hovercraft (Application of Enactments) Order 1989—and this is the basis on which current relevant ship requirements are applied to hovercraft. This new order, if approved, will amend the 1989 order to make it possible in future to apply relevant legislation made in or under the 1995 Act to hovercraft as it already applies to ships. We intend to make this order now because, for the purpose of extending the current Merchant Shipping (Fees) Regulations in November 2025, it is necessary to ensure that, in relation to all possible future hovercraft operations, the department will be able to charge fees for regulating hovercraft in the same way that it charges fees for regulating other types of ships. The statutory instrument will contain powers, through the use of provision for ambulatory reference, to ensure that, where necessary, legislation for hovercraft can keep pace with changes to the corresponding legislation covering ships. This order includes provision relating to safety requirements, pollution prevention measures and inquiries and investigations into ship casualties, ensuring that hovercraft will remain subject to the same modern regulatory standards as ships where this is necessary. This supports consistency, safety, the protection of the marine environment and growth across maritime operations. The order also updates some provision in the existing 1989 order to bring it up to current drafting standards. Although the department considers that there is no gap in legal powers in respect of the existing hovercraft operation in the United Kingdom because that operation is regulated under the legislation governing high-speed craft, the department nevertheless acknowledges that the existing 1989 order has fallen behind in its alignment with current regulations for ships and considers it appropriate to take steps to resolve this. This order will ensure that the department’s ability properly to regulate future hovercraft operations in the United Kingdom is not impeded by regulations designed for a previous generation of craft. Since the existing 1989 order was made, it has been amended twice to align it more closely with requirements for ships. As well as introducing the power to enable the department to charge fees fully in line with the fees structure for ships, this order, if approved, will also update provisions for safety regulations and casualty investigations. Notably, the order will also update the pollution prevention provisions when it comes to the availability of powers for the prevention of pollution of the marine environment by sewage and garbage, oil, liquid chemicals, dangerous goods, harmful substances and air emissions. The order also makes specific provision to apply the ambulatory reference powers in the Merchant Shipping Act 1995. This will mean that, where there is provision in regulations for ambulatory reference to ship requirements, and where those ship requirements are applied to hovercraft by this order, the ambulatory reference provision will also cover those requirements as they apply to hovercraft. This will, in turn, ensure that the relevant legislation for hovercraft will keep pace with international standards in the same way as it does for ships, ensuring that safety and pollution prevention standards are maintained and that there is a level playing field for UK industry and international competitors. Before concluding, I would like to mention two further points. There was no public consultation, simply because this order does not by itself impose requirements on the public or businesses. Similarly, this order does not represent a change in policy but merely ensures that all relevant existing maritime powers for ships are also available for hovercraft in future. In conclusion, I have highlighted the importance of this Order in Council in ensuring that hovercraft operating in the United Kingdom are subject to the same regulatory regime as ships and that the department has appropriate powers to ensure compliance with relevant safety and pollution prevention standards. I therefore beg to move.