HL Deb 28 October 2003 vol 654 cc36-7WA
Lord Mackenzie of Culkein

asked Her Majesty's Government: What steps are being taken to ensure that there is a substantial increase in the number of officer cadetships in the United Kingdom merchant fleet, given that the average age of British deck and engineer officers is near 50. [HL5082]

Lord Davies of Oldham:

The Government's Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme provides support for training officers and ratings, meeting around 50 per cent of the costs. It provided funding for 557 new officer cadets in the year 2002–03, an increase of 77 from the previous year. The current budget is £9.4 million a year.

Seafarer training is also a key element of the UK tonnage tax, which imposes a minimum training obligation on companies entering the scheme. This is to train one officer trainee per year for every 15 officer posts in the company's effective officer complement.

The MTO is cumulative and covers each trainee for up to three years.

The number of actual trainees under tonnage tax during 2002–03 was 670, while the cumulative training commitment for 2003–04, with several returns still outstanding, is already over 1,000.

Although the increase in cadet recruitment is very encouraging, the Government recognise that it is not enough to achieve stability in UK officer numbers. We are therefore examining ways in which the take-up of SMarT can be increased within the current budget.