NORTH WESTERN AND NORTH WALES SEA FISHERIES COMMITTEE
OFFICER’S REPORT
LIVERPOOL CITY COUNCIL
Report by the Chief Executive
A. Purpose of Report
To report the response of Liverpool City Council to the request from this Committee that it becomes engaged with the Committee.
B. Recommendation
The Committee notes that the response from Liverpool is disappointing but in view of the proposals for SFC funding in future through a proposed Marine Act, there may be little point in a further approach at this stage.
1. Summary to date
1.1 At the September 2007 meeting, Members resolved to invite Liverpool City Council to become a member of this Committee. The Chairman’s letter and the reply are at Annex A.
1.2 The letter was copied to the CEO of all member councils, inviting them to also press Liverpool to join this Committee. One Council wrote and received the same reply at Annex B.
1.3 It is disappointing that Liverpool has declined to fully consider becoming a member of this Committee and they have not accepted the invitation to hear a briefing on the remit and work of the Committee.
1.4 The Committee’s byelaws apply to Liverpool’s sea area and officers continue to manage the fisheries and enforce fisheries legislation in the part of the District for which Liverpool CC is responsible. It would not be practical to avoid fisheries enforcement in this small part of the District. It is therefore surprising that Liverpool CC is not willing to accept their responsibility to contribute their relatively small share of the Committee’s budget.
2. Marine Act proposals
2.1 Proposals for the Marine Bill suggest that all Local Authorities will be required to contribute to modernised and restructured Sea Fisheries Committees. If this bill successfully comes into force, Liverpool and other coastal Councils in England which are not currently members of SFCs would be made statutory members of the new Committees.
2.2 The current SFCs are established up to July 2009 under the 1999 Statutory Instrument currently in force. They could be reformed under the current legal framework with the existing membership without varying the SI but in order to introduce new members the SI would have to be varied.
2.3 The Marine Act may be on statute as early as mid 2009 but may take considerably longer and it is not yet certain that it will go ahead. Secondary legislation such as to establish new SFC will have to follow the primary legislation.
STEPHEN ATKINS
Chief Executive
21st November 2007
LOCAL GOVERNMENT (ACCESS TO INFORMATION) ACT, 1985
List of Background Papers
SI No 1043/1999: The North Western and North Wales Sea Fisheries District Order