Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking with Cabinet colleagues to help ensure that adequate levels of aviation fuel are available to airports in Scotland.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government is working closely with industry and regulators to monitor supply and maintain the resilience of supply chains. There are currently no aviation fuel shortages affecting airports in the UK. We remain in regular contact with the Scottish Government and other Devolved Governments to ensure we are ready to respond in a coordinated manner should disruption arise.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many merchant seafarers have been winched to safety from commercial vessels in (a) territorial and (b) international waters on the UK Continental Shelf by HM Coastguard Search and Rescue helicopters in each year since 2015.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The winching systems on search and rescue (SAR) helicopters have a limit on their load capacity which has been further reduced by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) imposed limit for the carriage of ‘human external cargo’. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) do not have additional operational limits on these winching systems and the rescue coordination centre will follow operational procedures for any SAR response.
The total number of individuals winched from offshore energy installations by HM Coastguard SAR aircraft since 2021 is 57. This includes 55 from oil and gas and two related to offshore wind. The oil and gas figure of 55 includes 29 evacuated from a semi-submersible.
From January 2021 to June 2026, SAR helicopters rescued 927 people from commercial vessels. The role of the person rescued is not routinely recorded.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s policies on the operational limits of Search and Rescue winching systems on helicopters contracted to conduct offshore Search and Rescue operations.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The winching systems on search and rescue (SAR) helicopters have a limit on their load capacity which has been further reduced by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) imposed limit for the carriage of ‘human external cargo’. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) do not have additional operational limits on these winching systems and the rescue coordination centre will follow operational procedures for any SAR response.
The total number of individuals winched from offshore energy installations by HM Coastguard SAR aircraft since 2021 is 57. This includes 55 from oil and gas and two related to offshore wind. The oil and gas figure of 55 includes 29 evacuated from a semi-submersible.
From January 2021 to June 2026, SAR helicopters rescued 927 people from commercial vessels. The role of the person rescued is not routinely recorded.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many offshore energy workers have been winched to safety from (a) fixed offshore oil and gas installations, (b) floating production storage and offloading units and (c) offshore wind farms on the UK Continental Shelf by HM Coastguard Search and Rescue helicopters in each year since 2015.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The winching systems on search and rescue (SAR) helicopters have a limit on their load capacity which has been further reduced by the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) imposed limit for the carriage of ‘human external cargo’. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) do not have additional operational limits on these winching systems and the rescue coordination centre will follow operational procedures for any SAR response.
The total number of individuals winched from offshore energy installations by HM Coastguard SAR aircraft since 2021 is 57. This includes 55 from oil and gas and two related to offshore wind. The oil and gas figure of 55 includes 29 evacuated from a semi-submersible.
From January 2021 to June 2026, SAR helicopters rescued 927 people from commercial vessels. The role of the person rescued is not routinely recorded.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with the (a) Maritime and Coastguard Agency, (b) Civil Aviation Authority and (c) Department for Energy Security and Net Zero on oil and gas employers’ proposals on the weight limit for offshore oil and gas workers being transported by helicopter.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency responded to the Offshore Energies UK (OEUK) report on the “identification of hazards related to the weight, size, and shape of offshore oil and gas workers in the UK” in September 2024 and March 2025, expressing safety concerns based on the increasing weight of offshore oil and gas workers (as per the OEUK report) and stating the absolute limits of winch and rescue equipment, and subjective considerations such as challenges with manual handling.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Scottish Government and (b) ferry operators on the crewing model that will be used on the vessels used to provide Roll-on Roll-off passenger and freight ferry services between Scotland and continental Europe; and whether conditions of maritime employment on those services will be covered by the Mandatory Seafarers Charter.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Maritime policy is devolved to Scotland and so it is for the Scottish Government to engage with ferry operators about any services from Scottish ports to mainland Europe. My officials regularly engage with the Scottish Government about maritime matters but Scotland have not raised any specific issues about crewing on services from Scotland to mainland Europe.
We will be consulting on the regulations bringing into force the Mandatory Seafarers’ Charter in Spring 2026. This consultation will set out the proposed scope of the requirements.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps she is taking to promote modal shift of freight from road to sea; and when she last discussed this matter with counterparts in the Scottish Government.
Answered by Keir Mather - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The GB-wide Waterborne Freight Grant encourages new coastal or short sea shipping services and assists a company with the operating costs associated with running waterborne freight transport instead of road, where transport by water is more expensive. The grant can assist a company for up to three years. The application window for funding in the 2026/27 financial year is open until 15 February.
Officials across the UK and Scottish Governments remain engaged on the ongoing administration and future of the scheme.
Asked by: Brian Leishman (Labour - Alloa and Grangemouth)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information her Department holds on the number of applications for exemption to allow civilian cargo planes that are (a) destined for Israel and (b) transporting munitions of war to overfly British sovereign airspace that have been (i) received, (ii) approved and (iii) rejected since 7 October 2023.
Answered by Mike Kane
The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has the responsibility of issuing approvals for the carriage of munitions of war in civil aircraft. The CAA has not received any applications for exemption to allow civilian cargo aircraft that are destined for Israel and transporting munitions of war to overfly UK sovereign airspace.