Seamen (Hansard, 2 February 2000)

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions what percentage of seamen employed in the UK shipping industry are foreign nationals not resident in the UK. [108023]

§ Mr. Hill
A Chamber of Shipping manpower survey of its member companies found that in May 1999 17.4 per cent. of officers and 22 per cent. of ratings working on Chamber of Shipping member companies' vessels were foreign nationals.

§ Mrs. Dunwoody
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will investigate the use by UK shipping companies of offshore contracts for British seamen employed on domestic services. [108021]

§ Mr. Hill
The Government committed in their shipping policy paper "British Shipping: Charting a new course" to publish guidelines for the industry on the applicability and use of offshore contracts for seafarers, and to determine whether any amendment to employment rights legislation was necessary.
The Government have set out the current position in a paper to the social partners and are taking it forward in the training and employment catalyst group established to progress the action points from "Charting a new course".