2011 No. 627
Licensing (marine)
Marine Management

The Marine Licensing (Delegation of Functions) Order 2011

Made
Laid before Parliament
Coming into force
The Secretary of State, as the appropriate licensing authority under section 113(2)(a), (4)(a), (6)(a) and (8) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 20091, makes the following Order in exercise of the powers conferred by sections 98(1) and 99(5) of that Act.

In accordance with section 98(3) of that Act, the Marine Management Organisation consents to the making of this Order.

Citation and commencement1.

This Order—

(a)

may be cited as the Marine Licensing (Delegation of Functions) Order 2011; and

(b)

comes into force on 6th April 2011.

Application2.

(1)

This Order applies in relation to any area, and any licensable marine activity carried on in that area, for which the Secretary of State is—

(a)

the appropriate licensing authority under section 113 of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 20092,

(b)

an enforcement authority under section 114 of that Act3,

and references in this Order to “the licensing authority” or an “enforcement authority” are to be read accordingly.

(2)

Nothing in this Order applies in relation to any excepted function within the meaning of section 98(6) of that Act.

Designation3.

(1)

The functions referred to in paragraph (3) are designated for the purposes of section 98(1)(a) of the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009.

(2)

But this is subject to paragraph (4).

(3)

The functions are any function of the licensing authority and any function of an enforcement authority, as the case may be, under—

(a)

Part 4 of that Act (sections 65 to 115, and Schedules 7 to 9)4;

(b)

the Marine Licensing (Exempted Activities) Order 20115;

(c)

the Marine Licensing (Register of Licensing Information) Regulations 20116;

(d)

the Marine Licensing (Application Fees) Regulations 20117.

(4)

Paragraph (1) does not apply to any function so far as it relates to an activity falling within the subject matter of—

(a)

Part 6 of the Merchant Shipping Act 19958 (pollution etc);

(b)

the Petroleum Act 19989; or

(c)

Part 1 (gas importation or storage), 4 (provisions relating to oil and gas) or 4A (works detrimental to navigation) of the Energy Act 200810.

Delegation to the Marine Management Organisation4.

The functions designated by article 3, instead of being exercisable by or in relation to the licensing authority or, as the case may be, an enforcement authority, are exercisable by or in relation to the Marine Management Organisation acting on behalf of the licensing authority or, as the case may be, the enforcement authority.

Richard Benyon
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
EXPLANATORY NOTE
(This note is not part of the Order)

This Order delegates the exercise of certain functions of the Secretary of State as a licensing authority and an enforcement authority under the Marine and Coastal Access Act 2009 (“the 2009 Act”) to the Marine Management Organisation.

This Order does not apply to those functions of the licensing authority (mainly relating to the making of subordinate legislation) which are excepted functions and not delegable by virtue of section 98(5)(a) of the 2009 Act (article 2(2)).

Article 3 designates functions of the Secretary of State as licensing authority and an enforcement authority under Part 4 (marine licensing) of the 2009 Act (including functions under subordinate legislation made under that Part).

Article 3 does not designate functions relating to activities falling within the subject matter of Part 6 of the Merchant Shipping Act 1995; the Petroleum Act 1998, or Part 1, 4 or 4A of the Energy Act 2008 (article 3(4)).

Article 4 provides that the designated functions are exercisable by or in relation to the Marine Management Organisation acting on behalf of the licensing authority or the enforcement authority (instead of being exercisable by or in relation to such an authority). The licensing authority has the power to give directions to the Marine Management Organisation with respect to the performance of the delegated functions (see section 100 of the 2009 Act, which power is an excepted function).

A full impact assessment of the effects that this instrument will have on the costs of business, the voluntary sector and the public sector has been prepared, and copies are available from the Licensing Policy Team, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Nobel House, 17 Smith Square, London SW1P 3JR, and from Defra’s website at www.defra.gov.uk.