Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to take steps to prevent mass redundancies of UK seafarers, in the context of P&O Ferries' dismissal of 800 staff.

The Government has made clear our commitment to protecting seafarer welfare and employment rights, especially from dismissals without meaningful employee consultation. Through our new seafarer protections nine-point plan we will introduce a Seafarer Protection Framework, which will set out a common level of employment protections. In addition to this, BEIS are progressing a new statutory code on fire and rehire practices, which will clamp down on unscrupulous employers who fail to engage in meaningful consultations with employees.