Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support maritime small and medium-sized enterprises recover from the outbreak of covid-19.
Answered by Robert Courts - Solicitor General (Attorney General's Office)
Since the start of the pandemic, the Government’s priority has been to support businesses and employees. Our financial measures worth an initial £330 billion have been continually refined to support all parts of the economy, including maritime small and medium-sized enterprises. The Government has provided financial support to a range of small and medium-sized enterprises, including making available up to £22.4 million to safeguard lifeline services. As we move towards recovery, we remain committed to safeguarding livelihoods with the Chancellor extending the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme from April to September 2021.
My officials are also working with the sector on a longer-term Maritime Recovery Plan which will support the Maritime 2050 strategy launched by the Government in 2019. The Department is working closely with representatives from across the maritime sector to identify their priorities and develop interventions which can support the sector’s recovery.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many apprenticeships were created in the transport sector in 2018.
Answered by Michael Ellis
Government set out ambitions to create apprenticeships in road and rail client bodies and their supply chain in its Transport Infrastructure Skills Strategy in 2016. It established the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT), an employer led group, to drive progress in creating apprenticeships and improving diversity in the sector. The Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce reports on progress each year. The most recent Annual Report ‘Three Years of Progress’ was published on 11th July 2019 and sets out the following:
2,900 apprenticeship starts in road and rail (April 2018 – April 2019)
8,200 apprenticeship starts in road and rail client bodies alone and their supply chain since STAT started its work in 2016. These apprenticeships have been created through the public-sector mandate and through public sector procurement in supply chain bodies
STAT has seen year on year growth in the number of apprenticeships created to date
In STAT's latest (July 2019) report, it set out apprenticeship starts beyond just road and rail, with data obtained from Heathrow, the Maritime Skills Alliance and DfE reporting.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effect on British seafarers’ jobs in the Irish sea of P&O Ferries’ sale of the roll-on roll-off passenger ferry M/V European Endeavour.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The MV European Endeavour has been sold to Eckero Line and will operate on the Helsinki/Tallinn route. P&O have confirmed that another vessel, the Mistral, that operated the Liverpool-Dublin route while the MV European Endeavour was undergoing a refit will continue to operate the route after the sale of the MV European Endeavor.
P&O have made a commercial decision to replace a passenger ro-ro ferry with a ro-ro cargo vessel to meet the changing demands of the freight market and particularly a rising demand for unaccompanied freight. Seafarers are required to meet the minimum standards of training as set out in the STCW Convention and no assessment is proposed to be made on the standards of seafarers operating in the Irish Sea.
The choice of which crewing agency to employ seafarers from is a commercial decision and a matter of choice for any shipping company to make for itself. The Government does not hold data relating to which crewing agencies shipping companies use.
There have been no recent meetings with P&O where employment was discussed.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he is taking steps to ensure that P&O Ferries’ sale of the M/V European Endeavour does not result in a reduction in the employment of British ratings on Irish sea ferry routes; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The MV European Endeavour has been sold to Eckero Line and will operate on the Helsinki/Tallinn route. P&O have confirmed that another vessel, the Mistral, that operated the Liverpool-Dublin route while the MV European Endeavour was undergoing a refit will continue to operate the route after the sale of the MV European Endeavor.
P&O have made a commercial decision to replace a passenger ro-ro ferry with a ro-ro cargo vessel to meet the changing demands of the freight market and particularly a rising demand for unaccompanied freight. Seafarers are required to meet the minimum standards of training as set out in the STCW Convention and no assessment is proposed to be made on the standards of seafarers operating in the Irish Sea.
The choice of which crewing agency to employ seafarers from is a commercial decision and a matter of choice for any shipping company to make for itself. The Government does not hold data relating to which crewing agencies shipping companies use.
There have been no recent meetings with P&O where employment was discussed.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when his Department last met with representatives of P&O Ferries to discuss seafarer employment.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The MV European Endeavour has been sold to Eckero Line and will operate on the Helsinki/Tallinn route. P&O have confirmed that another vessel, the Mistral, that operated the Liverpool-Dublin route while the MV European Endeavour was undergoing a refit will continue to operate the route after the sale of the MV European Endeavor.
P&O have made a commercial decision to replace a passenger ro-ro ferry with a ro-ro cargo vessel to meet the changing demands of the freight market and particularly a rising demand for unaccompanied freight. Seafarers are required to meet the minimum standards of training as set out in the STCW Convention and no assessment is proposed to be made on the standards of seafarers operating in the Irish Sea.
The choice of which crewing agency to employ seafarers from is a commercial decision and a matter of choice for any shipping company to make for itself. The Government does not hold data relating to which crewing agencies shipping companies use.
There have been no recent meetings with P&O where employment was discussed.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential effect on seafarer employment standards in the Irish sea of P&O Ferries’ offer of voluntary redundancy to British seafarers employed on the M/V European Endeavour; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The MV European Endeavour has been sold to Eckero Line and will operate on the Helsinki/Tallinn route. P&O have confirmed that another vessel, the Mistral, that operated the Liverpool-Dublin route while the MV European Endeavour was undergoing a refit will continue to operate the route after the sale of the MV European Endeavor.
P&O have made a commercial decision to replace a passenger ro-ro ferry with a ro-ro cargo vessel to meet the changing demands of the freight market and particularly a rising demand for unaccompanied freight. Seafarers are required to meet the minimum standards of training as set out in the STCW Convention and no assessment is proposed to be made on the standards of seafarers operating in the Irish Sea.
The choice of which crewing agency to employ seafarers from is a commercial decision and a matter of choice for any shipping company to make for itself. The Government does not hold data relating to which crewing agencies shipping companies use.
There have been no recent meetings with P&O where employment was discussed.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which crewing agencies are contracted to provide seafarer ratings to ferry companies operating in the Irish Sea; and when those labour supply contracts were last inspected for compliance with Regulation (a) 1.4 and (b) 5.3 of the Maritime Labour Convention.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The MV European Endeavour has been sold to Eckero Line and will operate on the Helsinki/Tallinn route. P&O have confirmed that another vessel, the Mistral, that operated the Liverpool-Dublin route while the MV European Endeavour was undergoing a refit will continue to operate the route after the sale of the MV European Endeavor.
P&O have made a commercial decision to replace a passenger ro-ro ferry with a ro-ro cargo vessel to meet the changing demands of the freight market and particularly a rising demand for unaccompanied freight. Seafarers are required to meet the minimum standards of training as set out in the STCW Convention and no assessment is proposed to be made on the standards of seafarers operating in the Irish Sea.
The choice of which crewing agency to employ seafarers from is a commercial decision and a matter of choice for any shipping company to make for itself. The Government does not hold data relating to which crewing agencies shipping companies use.
There have been no recent meetings with P&O where employment was discussed.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made a recent assessment of the effect of the low-cost crewing model on the number of British ratings directly employed on (a) passenger and (b) freight ferry services in the Irish sea.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
The MV European Endeavour has been sold to Eckero Line and will operate on the Helsinki/Tallinn route. P&O have confirmed that another vessel, the Mistral, that operated the Liverpool-Dublin route while the MV European Endeavour was undergoing a refit will continue to operate the route after the sale of the MV European Endeavor.
P&O have made a commercial decision to replace a passenger ro-ro ferry with a ro-ro cargo vessel to meet the changing demands of the freight market and particularly a rising demand for unaccompanied freight. Seafarers are required to meet the minimum standards of training as set out in the STCW Convention and no assessment is proposed to be made on the standards of seafarers operating in the Irish Sea.
The choice of which crewing agency to employ seafarers from is a commercial decision and a matter of choice for any shipping company to make for itself. The Government does not hold data relating to which crewing agencies shipping companies use.
There have been no recent meetings with P&O where employment was discussed.
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reason his Department has not published the transparency data entitled Dft: Spending over £25,000 for the months of (a) October, (b) November and (c) December 2018; and when he plans to publish those documents.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The transparency data for financial transactions over £25,000 for October, November and December 2018 was published on 28 March 2019 on GOV.UK
Asked by: Peter Dowd (Labour - Bootle)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many consultants his Department has hired since 2016; and at what cost to the taxpayer.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Department does not hold information on the number of consultants hired in any one year as this work is often commissioned as part of an outcomes based contract to ensure value for money.
The amount spent on consultants each year since 2016 is:
2016-17 - £49.59m
2017-18 - £55.22m