Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the relationship between the operators of older passenger boats and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency; and what steps could be taken to improve that relationship.

As Minister responsible for shipping matters, I am aware that the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) has a generally good relationship with operators of older passenger boats.

The MCA stakeholder group for the sector, the Domestic Passenger Safety Steering Group (DPSSG), meets annually, and the MCA’s proposals related to older passenger boats have been discussed by the DPSSG.

In addition, the MCA has hosted five workshops with stakeholders, three in 2016, one in November 2018 and another in March 2019, on the proposals for revising older passenger vessel standards, as well as carrying out two public consultations.

MCA officials also regularly engage with individual operators on an ad hoc basis.