§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions if he will make a statement on the importance of the marine industry; and what support the Government have provided. [31712]
§ Mr. JamiesonBritain is a natural maritime nation, so shipping is vitally important to us. 95 per cent. of our trade by weight arrives or leaves by sea, and the UK shipping industry is one of our biggest service-sector exporters. The UK industry was, however, in decline until we introduced our new shipping policy. A central element of our new policy is the tonnage tax, which brings certainty and clarity about tax liabilities, which are related to the tonnage of the ship operated rather than to actual profits made. Shipping companies are not obliged to enter the tonnage tax regime or to register their ships in the UK, but the new climate created by the tonnage tax, together with reforms at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, has helped to bring about significant increases in the UK registered fleet.
A key feature of the tonnage tax, unique to the UK, is a minimum training obligation. This requires each shipping company opting for the tonnage tax to recruit and train one officer trainee each year for every 15 officer posts in its fleet and also give consideration to employment and training opportunities for ratings. The Government provide financial support for seafarer training through the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme. Following a review of SMarT in autumn/winter 2000 and the receipt of EU State Aid clearance, additional courses will be included in the scheme and levels of funding will be increased.