Today, we have published our fatal accident investigation report after the fishing vessel Joanna C (BM265) snagged its gear on a line of whelk pots and capsized rapidly on 21 November 2020. Only one of the three crew survived.

Chief Inspector of Marine Accidents, Andrew Moll OBE, said:

The MAIB’s investigation into the loss of Joanna C set out to answer two key questions: why did it capsize, and why did only one of the three crew survive? Today, we are publishing the report that answers both these questions. Joanna C capsized because it had insufficient reserves of stability to recover from the heel created when the fishing gear became snagged. This happened because of modifications to the vessel that had severely eroded its stability characteristics, and this went undetected.

Of equal importance today, I want to highlight the findings of our investigation regarding Joanna C’s liferaft; this issue reaches beyond the fishing industry to any vessel carrying a ‘non-SOLAS’ liferaft. Lifesaving appliances are just that – for saving life, so it is vital that such equipment will function correctly in the event of an emergency. Unfortunately, Joanna C’s ‘float-free’ liferaft arrangements did not work as expected. Although the liferaft was released from its cradle as the vessel sank, it did not come to the surface and inflate. This significantly impacted the chances of survival for the two crew in the water, only one of whom survived. The MAIB’s investigation found that the uninflated liferaft had insufficient buoyancy to trigger the gas inflation system, leaving it suspended mid-water still attached to the sunken vessel (see headline image). Furthermore, the liferaft had not been manufactured to meet any specific standard, although this was acceptable for a small fishing vessel at the time. Prior to publication of today’s report, an immediate MAIB recommendation was made to amend the International Standard Organisation’s standard for non-SOLAS liferafts (known as ISO-9650) to ensure they have sufficient buoyancy in the uninflated state to activate the inflation mechanism, where ‘float-free’ arrangements are in place.

The safety message is that it is vital to ensure that lifesaving appliances will work as expected. Where ‘float-free’ arrangements are in place, the liferaft must have sufficient buoyancy to trigger the inflation mechanism once it has been released from the cradle as the vessel sinks.

A safety flyer to the fishing industry summarising the accident and detailing the safety lessons learned, has also been produced.

In a regulatory judgement published today (22 June 2022), the Regulator of Social Housing has concluded that Shepherds Bush Housing Association Limited is non-compliant with the governance element of the economic standards and downgraded it to G3 status.

Following an in-depth assessment and reactive engagement, RSH has found that Shepherds Bush has been unable to provide assurance that its governance arrangements had been effective. Weaknesses in its risk management, internal control frameworks and business plan reporting meant it failed to identify the potential crystallisation of financial risks in sufficient time. RSH also identified concerns about fire safety reporting and compliance with the Decent Homes Standard at Shepherds Bush and found that data quality is an ongoing issue for this housing association. There have also been a number of incidences where Shepherds Bush’s communication and provision of information to RSH fell below the required standard.

In response to the regulator’s investigation and in agreement with RSH, Shepherds Bush has accelerated several actions to improve its governance and put in place a Governance Assurance Plan that includes an overarching governance review, improvements to the financial governance and controls and several data reviews.

Shepherds Bush Housing Association remains compliant with the financial viability element of the economic standards and retains its V2 status.

Harold Brown, RSH’s Senior Assistant Director, Investigations and Enforcement, said:

Shepherds Bush Housing Association’s failed to manage its affairs appropriately in relation to risk management, fire safety and the decency of its tenants’ homes. We remind all social housing landlords that they have a responsibility to notify us promptly about potential breaches of our standards. We will continue to monitor Shepherds Bush Housing Association as it improves its governance.

1. Registered providers of social housing with more than 1,000 units are awarded both governance (G) and financial viability (V) grades for their compliance with the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. Grades of G1 and G2 indicate compliance with the governance element of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard, while grades of G3 and G4 indicate non-compliance. Similarly, V1 and V2 grades indicate compliance with the financial element and V3 and V4 grades indicate non-compliance.
2. RSH placed Shepherds Bush Housing Association on the gradings under review list on 22 December 2021 to indicate that it was investigating the provider’s compliance with the governance element of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard. This was updated on 22 March 2022 to indicate that the RSH investigation would be extended to consider compliance with the financial viability element of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard.
3. Based on evidence gained from its latest financial forecasts, RSH has assurance that Shepherds Bush Housing Association complies with the financial viability element of the Governance and Financial Viability Standard and that its financial plans are consistent with, and support, its financial strategy. Shepherd’s Bush Housing Association’s gradings are now G3 and V2. It’s most recent previous gradings were G2 and V2.
4. More information about how RSH regulates against its standards is available in Regulating the Standards.
5. RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver and maintain homes of appropriate quality that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants.
6. For press office contact details, see our Media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

As an Observer Member of VICH (the International Cooperation on Harmonisation of Technical Requirements for Registration of Veterinary Medicinal Products), we are inviting comments through a public consultation on proposed revisions to existing guidelines relating to the technical requirements for demonstrating efficacy of anthelmintic products in different animal species. 

In addition to the general requirements, recommendations for bovines, ovines, caprines, equines, porcines, canines, felines, and poultry are being revised.

The proposed draft documents are published at Draft Guidelines for public consultation (vichsec.org) and the consultation remains open until 1 November 2022.

Comments should be relevant to these specific guidelines, and can either be general on the approach outlined or comments on the actual text of the guideline.

Email your comments to vichcomments@vmd.gov.uk and we will compile and submit all comments to the relevant VICH expert working group(s) for consideration.

We are not able to respond to questions or comments directly.