The exemption issued by the CAA last year will indeed be coming up for review shortly. For some years CAA had filed a difference to the ICAO requirement for the carriage of ELTs in non commercial aircraft. This was set to change about a year ago, and CAA had been promoting PLBs at its Safety evenings, only to have the AIC published saying they were not acceptable. It was also noted that EASA approved lifejackets would be required, and there were no such approvals in place then, and probably still aren't.
Due to the good works of Chris Finnigan at CAA, the exemption was quickly put into place, effectively returning to the status quo of no mandatory ELT and the continued use of non aviation approved lifejackets. Hopefully the exeption will be extended for a further year.
There is nothing stopping you using a PLB, though you will need to register it with the S&R services at Kinloss.
Personal locator beacons etc.
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