The Broads Authority Private Bill

Latest news

(Updated 28 May 2008)

Progress to date The Broads Authority Private Bill was deposited in Parliament on 27 November 2006. The Bill had a first reading on 23 January 2007. The petitioning period in the House of Commons ended on 30 January 2007. The Bill was read a second time, after a debate, on 25 April 2007.

The Select Committee on the Bill (David Taylor (Chairman), Jim Sheridan, Mr Stephen Crabb, James Duddridge) sat on 17 and 18 July 2007. This link will take you to the Committee's report.

At the end of the Committee the Chairman gave the decision that the Bill should be allowed to proceed to the next stage. He indicated that the Committee’s report will have 4 recommendations.

1. That a clause concerning the licensing of volunteer rescue services (Clause 25) be removed. Defra had argued that the aims behind the Bill could be achieved by training and guidance.

2. A series of minor amendments, suggested by Defra, were accepted.

3. The Committee asked the Broads Authority and the national boating organisations to reflect on their legal agreement. (Note: It had been suggested by the petitioners that it should be reflected on the face of the Bill in its entirety - this was not accepted.)

4. The Committee also suggested that it would be worth looking at the constitutional arrangements for the Authority and particular mention was made of the Scottish National Parks where there are direct elections to the national park authority.

All the main provisions of the Bill, for example Boat Standards (Boat Safety Scheme), General and Special Directions, Third Party Insurance, licensing of hire boats and the modernisation elements, were endorsed by the Committee.

In addition and with regard to paragraph 3 (above) legal representatives of the Broads Authority, the Royal Yachting Association (RYA) and the British Marine Federation (BMF), and representatives of the Inland Waterways Association (IWA) subsequently reviewed the terms of the agreements which were endorsed by the Committee. As a result the Authority introduced at the Consideration stage on 23 January 2008 the amendments referred to in the attached document. (word document) [60kb]. These amendments were agreed.

On 7 May 2008 the Bill passed the Third Reading in the House of Commons following an Opposed Bill Debate, and has now moved on to the House of Lords where it has had its First Reading. The period for petitioning in the House of Lords runs from 8 to 19 May 2008.

In the Third Reading Debate in the House of Commons the Minister, Jonathan Shaw MP, stated:

“As a number of hon. Members have said, the Bill is not the appropriate vehicle to change the constitution of the Broads Authority. As I have signalled, I want to look at this across the piece to take account of the other national parks in England. I will therefore issue a consultation on the future of the constitution and the composition of the Broads Authority and other park authorities in England. I will advise the House when I intend do so. There will not be long delays, and I hope that I can issue something over the summer period.”

At its meeting on 9 May the Broads Authority resolved:

“to unanimously support the principle of exploring direct elections to the Broads Authority and other national parks.”

The Authority can now continue to develop procedures and policies for the implementation of these key provisions in consultation with the Navigation Committee.

Below there is a link to the Bill as deposited. A copy of the Bill as amended in Committee and showing the amendments subsequently introduced by the Authority at the Consideration stage, and agreed by the House of Commons is available in the attached document (pdf document) [3466kb]. In addition, a further version of the Bill as introduced in the House of Lords is now available. It is also available on the Parliamentary website http://services.parliament.uk/bills/2007-08/broadsauthority.html.

If you have any queries please contact the Authority’s solicitor, Mr Keir Hounsome on 01603 756037 or email keir.hounsome@broads-authority.gov.uk

Following the First Reading of the Bill in the House of Lords, 14 petitions were deposited against the Bill. They will be considered at the Committee Stage, probably in the autumn. Before then will be the Second Reading of the Bill in the House of Lords.

Associated documents

Broads Authority Private Bill

Explanatory Note (word document) [192kb]

Note of substantive changes to Draft Bill date 24 October 2006 (word document) [31kb]

Broads Authority Bill RYA/BMF final agreement (pdf document) [432kb]

Broads Authority Bill - Final Agreement with IWA (pdf document) [486kb]

Broads Authority Private Bill as amended by the Committee July 2007 (pdf document) [324kb]

Purpose of the Bill

The Broads Authority is promoting a Private Bill to update the 1988 Norfolk and Suffolk Broads Act. This is not a course of action that the Authority has chosen lightly, but after many years of discussion with Government officials it became clear that this was the only route open to the Authority if a series of important safety matters were to be addressed. The Authority is following a path in many of the proposals already paved by British Waterways in its 1995 Act and the Environment Agency in its Transport and Works Act Order, expected to be determined shortly. The Bill is doing for the Broads what has already been put in place for the two larger inland navigation authorities.

Key Provisions

(a) The power to give general directions to all vessels, or particular classes of vessels. For instance, directions to designate safe navigation routes, directions to regulate mooring within the Authority’s navigation jurisdiction, directions to regulate the towing of vessels. This modern method of regulation is used in other harbours.

(b) The giving of special, i.e. one off, directions to vessels in one off cases. This will extend the existing powers in the 1988 Act to deal with safety issues where the existing provisions have proved ineffective.

(c) The power to designate construction and equipment standards for vessels. The Boat Safety Scheme was introduced into the Broads from 1 April 2007 by byelaws. This provision in the Bill will enable the Authority to streamline its administration of the Scheme and amend it more quickly than by byelaws to keep it in line with the national scheme.

(d) The power to introduce compulsory third party insurance for vessels.

(e) Powers to require the licensing of pleasure boats.

(f) Powers to better regulate waterskiing and wakeboarding in the Broads.

(g) Powers to deal with overhanging vegetation that poses a hazard to navigation.

(h) The removal of the requirement to have a separate navigation account dealing purely with navigation income and expenditure. This provision has proved administratively bureaucratic and, more importantly, it cuts across the Authority’s aim of having an integrated approach to the management of the Broads. The Bill submitted by the Broads Authority contains a requirement that navigation expenditure is not less than navigation income (Note: Amended by the Committee following a report by Defra so that navigation expenditure equals income) and the Authority has put arrangements in place to ensure transparency in its accounts so that toll payers can see how their contribution to the maintenance of the Broads is being used.

(i) Ten of the Authority’s 21 members are appointed by the Secretary of State. The current requirement is that three must be appointed after consultation with boating interests and two after consultation with farming and landowning interests. Other interests, such as conservation and land based recreation, were represented by English Nature, the Environment Agency and the Countryside Agency prior to the restructuring of the membership in June 2005. In order to redress the balance, it is proposed that the Secretary of State must consult with conservation and land based recreational interests as well as boating and farming and landowning interests and have regard to the desirability of maintaining an overall balance between those interests when making his appointments.

Consultation on Drafts of the Bill

The Broads Authority carried out extensive consultations over the last year with a wide range of bodies. A first draft of the Bill was published in early April 2006 and sent for comment to a wide range of public and other bodies. The responses to this consultation were reported to the full Authority meeting on 19 May 2006 as a result of which changes were made. There was then a second consultation period between 30 May and 14 July 2006. The outcome of this second consultation exercise was reported to the full Broads Authority on 28 July 2006 when further changes were agreed. Background documents

Significant changes have been made to the Bill through this year-long consultation process and some of the Authority’s original ambitions for the Bill have been dropped. Most notable of these was the proposal to change the name of the area to The Broads National Park, to recognise the equivalent status held by the area. Although the proposal had widespread support, including all the local MPs it proved impossible to reconcile the different views on the matter and therefore, reluctantly, the Authority agreed to exclude it from the Bill.

Legal Agreements with National Boating Organisations

Given the focus of the Bill on navigational safety there has been an on-going process of working with national and local boating representatives - the Royal Yachting Association, British Marine Federation, the Inland Waterways Association, Norfolk and Suffolk Boating Association and the Broads Hire Boat Federation - with a view to meeting their concerns on the content of the draft Bill. The happy outcome of the meetings was that at the end of January 2007 agreement was reached with these bodies on a range of provisions in the Bill. The legal agreements with the Royal Yachting Association, British Marine Federation and the Inland Waterways Association set out changes that the Authority have agreed to the Bill and the processes it will use in implementing its provisions. Most of the provisions in these agreements are now incorporated in the Bill. The Authority has also entered into an agreement with British Waterski in relation to the provisions in the Bill as they apply to the sport including the composition of a panel to advise the Authority on matters such as the zones and times when the sport will be permitted.

The agreements reached with national boating organisations and the minimal number of private petitions are testament to the thoroughness of the consultation carried out by the Broads Authority. The Authority has been keen to listen to and address the issues raised by stakeholders and where appropriate amend the Bill to meet their concerns.