Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what policy objectives his Department intended to achieve through The Seafarers (Transnational Information and Consultation, Collective Redundancies and Insolvency Miscellaneous Amendments) Regulations 2018 (S.I. 2018/26), in relation to the enforcement of employers' duty to notify authorities of an intention to dismiss workers as redundant.

These regulations were introduced to implement EU Directive 2015/1794 (Seafarers). The UK was required to implement this Directive as a member of the European Union.

The regulations introduce the requirement on shipping companies to inform the competent authorities of the flag State of seafarer redundancies. The period in which such notice should be given is 45 days’ notice where there are 100 or more redundancies planned. This gives the authorities an opportunity to engage with employer and employees to identify what assistance can be provided.

The Government is strongly committed protecting UK seafarers and those who work in UK waters continue to be protected by National Minimum Wage laws despite the 2018 legal change. The Secretary of State made a statement in Parliament on Wednesday 30 March regarding a further package of measures the UK Government is introducing to ensure there is no repeat of P&O Ferries actions.