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 DTI Diagnosed
A Doctor Writes "Is the Department of Trade and Industry afflicted by Industry Capture Syndrome, an often debilitating condition frequently diagnosed in government regulatory bodies?"
The DTI is regulator of the offshore oil and gas industry, and has responsibility for almost all aspects of the industry, including licensing new developments and controlling environmental impact. But consider the following list of symptoms:
Increasing costs to the environment.
The current development of the Atlantic Frontier oilfields poses a serious threat to a rare marine ecosystem. The DTI has licensed this and many other activities without an environmental impact assessment.
Failure of regulator to use its (often limited) powers.
Since the 1971 Prevention of Oil Pollution Act there has been only one prosecution by the DTI for illegal discharge of oil into the sea, while specific exemptions to the Act have been made at the discretion of the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry. Curiously, the DTI relies almost exclusively on self reporting of oil spills - not that we should doubt the integrity of our favourite companies.
Failure of regulator to provide the public with detailed/ accurate/ honest information about the industry.
The DTI is frequently asked for environmental information about the industry, and the experience of campaigners is a frustrating catalogue of delays, obstructions and inadequacy. Guy Linley-Adams, Conservation Director of the Marine Conservation Society, found that oil spill data about specific companies was not available. “Its completely laughable,” he remarks, “any half decent regulator would have that kind of information very readily available.” Refusing to pay £4,000 for a search of the DTI’s archives, he received the last two years’ oil spill data 9 months after making the original request. “They lie to us regularly”, says Mick Green, Chair of Friends of Cardigan Bay.
Delusions of impartiality.
33 oil companies are represented by the UK Offshore Operators Association (UKOOA). Part of its Leadership Role is to guide the future direction of Britain’s offshore industry, and its influence in the DTI can’t be underestimated. The DTI is proud of its partnership. UKOOA provides training and secondments for DTI officials, and many DTI staff are former petroleum engineers, most notably Lord Simon.
DTI inspectors rely on oil rig operators to transport them to installations for inspections, which means operators can never be caught in the act.
Mick Green observes that “Industry is party to everything. While we represent far more people than industry does, we are just sidelined... Any [information] we try to get is commercially confidential. Anything we send is copied straight to UKOOA and all the oil companies.”
Experience has shown that self-diagnosis of Industry Capture Syndrome is virtually impossible. Sufferers are quick to reassure themselves that they are firmly in control of industry standards. They insist that you have to create a relationship of trust to be able to regulate effectively. Sadly, trust so often turns into blind faith.
And now some good news?
Energy Minister John Battle announced this September that he was to “fast-track” the latest European Directive on environmental impact assessments (EIAs), to bring it in this year rather than March 1999. The Directive requires EIAs to be carried out on almost all offshore developments, and to be made available to the public. This is something environmental campaigners have been calling for for years.
However, Battle expected no complaint from the industry. Perhaps because of its desperate need to improve its environmental image. A MORI poll shows that the public approval rating of the offshore oil industry has fallen from 70% in the 1970s to 32% in 1996. Furthermore, Battle said that the Directive would not delay offshore projects nor raise costs. “It should all be fairly routine”, he said.
Diagnosis: Acute Oil-Industry Capture and chronic Conflict of Interests. Recommended course of action: Immediate amputation of regulatory responsibilities.
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