Pilotage Act 1983

6 Review of pilotage services and non-compulsory pilotage areas

(1) It shall be the duty of the Commission—

(a) to keep under consideration the organisation of pilotage services at ports of, and waters off the coasts of, the United Kingdom, to consider suggestions for changes in the organisation of those services which are made to the Commission by persons appearing to the Commission to be interested in the organisation of them and to make proposals for such changes in the organisation of those services as the Commission considers appropriate;

(b) without prejudice to the generality of paragraph (a) above, to consider what numbers of pilots are needed in order to provide efficient pilotage services in pilotage districts and to make to the pilotage authorities concerned such recommendations about the numbers as the Commission considers appropriate ; and

(c) to carry out such investigations as the Commission considers appropriate in order to ascertain whether pilotage should be made compulsory at places in, or off the coasts of, the United Kingdom where it is not compulsory and to make proposals for pilotage to be made compulsory at such places as the Commission considers appropriate in consequence of the investigations.

(2) If the Commission considers that a pilotage order or byelaws should be made for the purpose of giving effect to such a proposal as is mentioned in paragraph (a) or paragraph (c) of subsection (1) above and that an application for such an order or for confirmation of byelaws which are appropriate for that purpose has not been made to the Secretary of State by a pilotage authority affected by the proposal within a period which the Commission considers reasonable in the circumstances, the Commission may apply to the Secretary of State for a pilotage order for that purpose or, as the case may be, may exercise for that purpose the power to make byelaws which is conferred on the pilotage authority by section 15(1) of this Act.

(3) It shall be the duty of the Commission before it performs a function conferred on it by subsection (1) above, to consult such persons in the United Kingdom as the Commission considers are likely to be affected by the performance of the function or to consult persons appearing to the Commission to represent those persons.