Maritime Training Scheme

Mike Penning Excerpts

Wednesday 22nd June 2011 Written Statements

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

The Government’s principal objective in supporting merchant navy training is to facilitate an adequate supply of UK maritime expertise to meet the nation’s economic and strategic requirements, by assisting organisations providing merchant navy training. In this difficult economic period, the Government have decided that it is right to review the continuing requirement for Government support for training and skills development in this sector and how best to spend any continuing Government funding.

In my written ministerial statement of 8 December 2010, Official Report, columns 24-26WS, I announced my intention to commission a review and I can confirm that today I have launched an invitation to tender. The successful bidder will present its findings to an independent panel, which will report to me by the end of the year and make practical recommendations on how the economic requirement for trained seafarers in the UK can be best met, having regard to current financial constraints.

The terms of reference for the review are as follows:

To review the UK requirement for trained seafarers at sea over the next decade;

To review the UK requirement for trained seafarers ashore over the next decade;

To examine the extent to which the above requirements have to be met by UK seafarers;

To review the effectiveness and efficiency of the existing funding arrangements and the future need for Government intervention to ensure the supply of trained seafarers;

To identify options for supporting the training of seafarers and make recommendations which address the issue of value for money and are reflective of future UK requirements for trained seafarers;

To examine whether previous training targets are reflective of future needs.