boatone
Well-Known Member
The following is an extract from an EA update I received just before Xmas. The message is quite stark and clearly things have to change.
In the years I have been dealing with the EA this is by far the strongest message I have seen them publish. There is no doubt that they are genuinely shocked by these figures.
QUOTE
"Earlier this month, we carried out our second Flag Day focussed on boat registration avoidance, the first being in September. As you will be aware, Flag Days are when we deploy as many of our officers as possible, as widely as possible, to focus on a particular issue or provide advice and guidance to boaters on a particular topic. Lock staff and volunteers also get involved, as do office staff – depending on the issue or topic in question. These Flag Days are popular with staff, with our boating customers and, more importantly, are effective. Across the two boat registration enforcement Flag Days, we served enforcement notices against owners of 161 boats. We estimate this has potentially protected around £120,000 of income.
Whilst this is an excellent result, what is disappointing is the 161 notices were served as a result of 815 boats being checked – giving an overall evasion rate of 20%.
This rate was pushed up by a higher than expected evasion rate amongst boats kept in marinas. We feel this is unacceptable. We expect all marina operators to work with us to ensure evasion amongst their customers is minimal, and we think it is entirely reasonable for us to expect that in marinas, the evasion rate will be far less than the average for the rest of the river. Clearly, it is not, and that’s not good enough.
What is particularly galling is that so many of the unregistered boats in marinas were sizeable and very well kept. We often receive complaints from people about shabby boats which they assume must be unregistered simply because of the way they look. In the vast majority of cases, these boats are found to be fully compliant. What we found in these marinas was the polar opposite of that scenario - costly, lovingly maintained boats …but unregistered. Perhaps we all need to direct our gaze, and opprobrium, in a new direction."
UNQUOTE
Given the publicity surrounding the court cases clarifying the situation re boats moored in marinas needing to pay registration, one would have hoped that the situation would have improved but, at least in some marinas, this is clearly not the case.
Have you paid for 2018 yet ? More importantly, perhaps, how many have not paid for 2017 but remain undetected?
In the years I have been dealing with the EA this is by far the strongest message I have seen them publish. There is no doubt that they are genuinely shocked by these figures.
QUOTE
"Earlier this month, we carried out our second Flag Day focussed on boat registration avoidance, the first being in September. As you will be aware, Flag Days are when we deploy as many of our officers as possible, as widely as possible, to focus on a particular issue or provide advice and guidance to boaters on a particular topic. Lock staff and volunteers also get involved, as do office staff – depending on the issue or topic in question. These Flag Days are popular with staff, with our boating customers and, more importantly, are effective. Across the two boat registration enforcement Flag Days, we served enforcement notices against owners of 161 boats. We estimate this has potentially protected around £120,000 of income.
Whilst this is an excellent result, what is disappointing is the 161 notices were served as a result of 815 boats being checked – giving an overall evasion rate of 20%.
This rate was pushed up by a higher than expected evasion rate amongst boats kept in marinas. We feel this is unacceptable. We expect all marina operators to work with us to ensure evasion amongst their customers is minimal, and we think it is entirely reasonable for us to expect that in marinas, the evasion rate will be far less than the average for the rest of the river. Clearly, it is not, and that’s not good enough.
What is particularly galling is that so many of the unregistered boats in marinas were sizeable and very well kept. We often receive complaints from people about shabby boats which they assume must be unregistered simply because of the way they look. In the vast majority of cases, these boats are found to be fully compliant. What we found in these marinas was the polar opposite of that scenario - costly, lovingly maintained boats …but unregistered. Perhaps we all need to direct our gaze, and opprobrium, in a new direction."
UNQUOTE
Given the publicity surrounding the court cases clarifying the situation re boats moored in marinas needing to pay registration, one would have hoped that the situation would have improved but, at least in some marinas, this is clearly not the case.
Have you paid for 2018 yet ? More importantly, perhaps, how many have not paid for 2017 but remain undetected?
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