299.The licensing authority may by order delegate any of its delegable marine licensing functions, as defined in this section, to such other body as the licensing authority considers appropriate. The power also extends to conferring on such a body powers that the licensing authority might confer on an enforcement authority in orders under sections 93 or 95 that relate to imposing civil sanctions. However, it does not include the “excepted functions” specified in subsection (6) of section 98, which must remain the preserve of each licensing authority. This section enables each licensing authority either to retain the delegable functions described above or to delegate some or all of them to another competent body. The Government intends that most of the Secretary of State’s licensing functions will be delegated to the Marine Management Organisation established under Part 1 of the Act.
300.The body to which any functions are to be delegated under the section must give its consent before the licensing authority may make the order. The licensing authority may not exercise any function it has delegated unless the order explicitly permits it to do so. There is no minimum or maximum period for which the delegation applies. Different functions may be delegated to different bodies, or the same function may be delegated to different bodies in different cases.
301.Section 99 enables further provision to be made in an order concerning the exercise of any delegated functions. Subsection (4) provides a list of the aspects of the licensing process that the licensing authority may want to regulate specifically in the order.