Richard Burden – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Richard Burden on 2015-11-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the likely causes of changes in the size of the UK Ship Register since 2010.

Mr Robert Goodwill

A decline in UK shipping interests, including in the size of the UK Ship Register, was one of the reasons government launched the Maritime Growth Study in 2014. The evidence into the Study included an assessment from the independent UK Ship Register Advisory Panel, which was commissioned by the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) to review the current performance of the UK Ship Register and consider the conditions which would enable the Register to become more internationally competitive. The Panel’s report includes their views on the reasons for the decline in the Register and was published on 16 July 2015.

The wider Study, published on 7 September 2015, considered the increasing international competition faced by the UK maritime sector as a whole, but contains a number of proposals specific to the UK Ship Register.

The Government will respond formally to the Maritime Growth Study by the end of 2015, but is taking immediate action in response to some recommendations. This includes the establishment of a Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth and taking steps to support the improved operation of the MCA such as appointing a commercial director to lead the UK Ship Register separately from the Agency’s regulatory functions and a business case exploring the costs and benefits of options for more significant reform of the MCA.