Oral Answers to Questions

Lorraine Beavers Excerpts

Thursday 15th May 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mike Tapp (Dover and Deal) (Lab)]

14. What steps she is taking to support sustainability in the maritime sector.

[Lorraine Beavers (Blackpool North and Fleetwood) (Lab)]

21. What steps she is taking to support the maritime sector.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport (Mike Kane)]

The recently published maritime decarbonisation strategy supports sustainable growth, working with industry to reach zero emissions by 2050, supported by £30 million for clean maritime research and development. The Government have also allocated £850,000 to maritime clusters to support skills and training programmes, boosting growth and improving our coastal communities.

--- Later in debate ---

[Mike Kane]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that infrastructure, which is so important to our nation. I was pleased to meet Doug Bannister, the chief executive officer of the Port of Dover, just the other day to talk about these matters. This Government are implementing a new strategic planning process and reforming connections to ensure that electricity meets future demands. If we do that right, we can have the greenest shipping corridors in the world.

[Lorraine Beavers]

Fleetwood, in my constituency, has a proud fishing industry, but our port is currently massively underused. The Government’s clean power mission is a huge opportunity for ports like Fleetwood to take advantage of jobs and investment brought by offshore wind projects. Will the Minister meet me to ensure that the Port of Fleetwood gets the investment it needs to take advantage of those projects, so that my community can start to rebuild after the last 14 years of austerity inflicted on it by the previous Conservative Government?

[Mike Kane]

That is so true. I was delighted to join my hon. Friend on a recent visit to Fleetwood nautical campus in her constituency, where I saw the excellent facilities and what a fantastic advocate she is for the people of Fleetwood and its port. I briefly met with the soon-to-be new owners of that port. Once that deal is finalised and they have plans to progress, I will sit down with my hon. Friend and the new owners to look at the potential for what we can achieve there.