Port of London Authority: Regulation
Question
Apsana Begum
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of giving the (a) Parliamentary Service and Health Ombudsman and (b) another regulatory body powers to regulate the Port of London Authority.
Answer
Mr Richard HoldenThe department has considered including the Port of London Authority (PLA) within the remit of the Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). The department does not view this as a sensible course of action at this time.
The Ombudsman can investigate any action taken by, or on behalf, a government department or other authority to which the Parliamentary Commissioner Act 1967 Act applies. Such “action” is in relation to the exercise of administrative functions of that department or authority. The PLA is not a government department, and it is not taking action on behalf of one. It is a self-funding trust port and not a public body in the sense that the other bodies regulated by the PHSO are.
It and indeed all other UK ports are already regulated, primarily by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, but also by other bodies which includes, but are not limited to, the Marine Management Organization, local councils and the Financial Conduct Authority.