General Lighthouse Authorities

There are three General Lighthouse Authorities (GLAs) responsible for the provision of marine aids to navigation around the coasts of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. These are:

The Commissioners of Northern Lighthouses....
known as the Northern Lighthouse Board, responsible for Scotland and the Isle of Man

The Trinity House Lighthouse Service....
responsible for England, Wales, the Channel Islands and Gibraltar

The Commissioners of Irish Lights....
responsible for Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.

The General Lighthouse Authorities have a shared mission statement which is:

To deliver a reliable, efficient and cost effective Aids to Navigation service for the benefit and safety of all mariners.

Although each GLA is an independent, autonomous body, governed by its own legally empowered Board, all three are funded from the same General Lighthouse Fund (GLF) which is under the stewardship of the UK Secretary of State for Transport (as marine safety is a reserved issue under the Scotland Act, the Northern Lighthouse Board is accountable to the Government in Westminster). The GLF itself is funded mainly through the payment of Light Dues paid by ships entering UK and Irish ports, and additionally by return on investments and income generated by commercial opportunities.

All three GLAs play a decisive role in the workings of the International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) and are recognised to be world leaders in this very important business.

The three GLAs work very closely together, with tight coordination of assets and common policies where this is appropriate. A series of Inter GLA Committees have been set up to consider coordination and common practice across all areas, from Marine Operations to Procurement, and Engineering to Human Resources. The increasing levels of tri-GLA activity were recognised by both the UK and Irish Governments’ “Assessment into the Provision of Marine Aids to Navigation around the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland” - the “Atkins” Review.