Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of exercising the powers in the Harbours Act 1964 to issue Harbour Revision Orders in response to the actions against UK seafarers taken by P&O Ferries on 17 March 2022.

The use of Harbour Revision Orders was considered as part of the overall response to actions undertaken by P&O ferries. The use of Harbour Revision Orders, which as a process is primarily operated by the Marine Management Organisation, was judged not to be suitable as a response to this situation. As a harbour revision order applies only to a single harbour, and so for any unified response a Harbour Revision Order would need to be drafted for every port, this was deemed a less than ideal method for any potential government action.