Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether proposed changes to the Harbour Act 1964 to tackle ferry operators paying below the minimum wage will also apply to (a) those operating in the oil and gas or renewable sectors in the North Sea and (b) other maritime operators.

The Department for Transport, working with other government departments, is working through the process to introduce legislation to ensure that any ferry operator frequently accessing a UK port pays an equivalent to the national minimum wage (NMW) while in our waters.

It is our intent to ensure that all seafarers working on ferries operating internationally out of the UK are paid at least the equivalent of the minimum wage for their time spent in the UK territorial waters and to further strengthen that protection with bilateral agreements with our neighbours to provide ‘minimum wage corridors’ between the UK, Ireland and Continental Europe.

As part of this process, we will be launching a public consultation which will seek views on which operators should be within scope of the regulation.

The National Minimum Wage (Offshore Employment) Order 2020 extended the provisions of the UK national minimum wage to all seafarers working in the oil and gas industry where that work was undertaken in support of UK activity and within the UK Continental Shelf. The National Minimum Wage Act 1999 does not make explicit reference to the Exclusive Economic Zone and therefore cannot be applied to those working in the offshore renewables sector where that work is beyond the limits of the UK territorial waters.