§ Mr. Prescottasked the Secretary of State for Transport for which United Kingdom coastal and international shipping services the Government provide a subsidy, either directly to the operator or to the users of the services; and what are the names of the ships concerned, their countries of registry, nationality of crew and ship ownership and the amount of subsidy paid for each service and ship for each of the last 10 years.
§ Mr. RidleyMy Department does not provide specific operating subsidies for UK coastal and international shipping services. County councils may however use part of their transport supplementary grant to assist passenger ferries.
The subsidies provided for some shipping services for the Scottish Highlands and Islands are the responsibility 287W of my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland, and I shall ask him to write to the hon. Member about them.