Merchant Shipping Act 1979

11 Employment of pilots by pilotage authorities

(1) A pilotage authority shall have and be deemed always to have had—

(a) power to employ pilots licensed by the authority and, as assistants for such pilots, persons who are or are not pilots so licensed ; and

(b) power to make arrangements with shipowners and other persons under which payments are made to the authority in respect of services of persons employed by the authority by virtue of the preceding paragraph.

(2) If a majority of the persons who for the time being hold pilots' licences for the district of a pilotage authority and are not employed by the authority resolve that the authority shall not be entitled to exercise the power mentioned in the preceding subsection to employ, as pilots or assistants, any pilots licensed by the authority, the authority shall not be entitled to exercise that power until the resolution is revoked by a majority of such persons as aforesaid ; and—

(a) the Secretary of State may by regulations make provision with respect to the passing and revocation of resolutions for the purposes of this subsection and with respect to records of resolutions and of the revocation of them ; but

(b) nothing in the preceding provisions of this subsection shall affect any contract of employment in force when a resolution is passed in pursuance of those provisions.