§ Mr. Carmichael:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 4 December 2003, Official Report, column 162W, on shipping, how the Government determine that ships which do not fly the red ensign but qualify for the tonnage tax regime are strategically and commercially managed in the U K. [143499]
§ Mr. Jamieson:The strategic and commercial management test arises from the European Commission's guidelines on State Aid in the maritime sector. As no specific EC guidance is available on the meaning of "strategically and commercially managed" the Government adopt a common sense interpretation, taking into account the various different strands of management activity that can be carried out in respect of a ship. Elements of both legs of the test must be demonstrated. Among the indicators that might be considered are:
713WStrategic management:
- Location of HQ, including senior management staff
- Where the board of directors makes its decisions
Commercial management:
- Route planning
- Taking bookings for passengers and cargo
- Managing bunkers, provisioning and victualling requirements
- Personnel management
- Technical management
None of the indicators for strategic or commercial management will be conclusive on their own. The Government will consider the number and weight of the various indicators exhibited for both legs of the test and will expect to see real economic activity from ship operations in the UK. Greater weight will be given to the higher levels of decision making and management as opposed to day to day management.
§ Mr. Carmichael:To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to his answer of 4 December 2003, Official Report, column 162W, on shipping, how many people have been employed in the UK in each of the last 10 years as inspectors to carry out monitoring and compliance inspections of ships to ensure that security measures are properly implemented. [143500]
§ Mr. Jamieson:The numbers of Security Inspectors employed by the Department for Transport with responsibility for compliance inspections of ships for each of the last ten years are as follows:
- 1994–6
- 1995–5
- 1996–5
- 1997–5
- 1998–5
- 1999–5
- 2000–5
- 2001–5
- 2002–5
- 2003–4.
In accordance with security priorities identified by my Department the inspections are carried out on passenger vessels under the provisions only of the Aviation and Maritime Security Act 1990. The Inspectors are also responsible for ensuring security compliance by the ports from which these vessels operate thereby providing a fully integrated ship/port security regime.