Cat Smith – 2015 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Transport

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Cat Smith on 2015-10-13.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total cost was of his Department’s Maritime Growth Study, published in September 2015; how many hours staff in his Department worked on that study; and when he plans to respond to its recommendations.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Maritime Growth Study was commissioned by Government, but led on an entirely voluntary basis by an industry chair, Lord Mountevans, who was supported by a secretariat of five full-time officials from my Department. The Study was officially launched in November 2014 and published in September 2015. The total cost of the Study was approximately £390K, the majority of these costs being internal staffing costs for the secretariat. Other officials and analysts contributed their expertise as and when required on a business as usual basis.

The Government will respond formally to the report by the end of 2015, but is taking immediate action in response to specific recommendations. This includes the establishment of a Ministerial Working Group for Maritime Growth and taking steps to support the improved operation of the Maritime & Coastguard Agency (MCA) such as appointing a commercial director to lead the UK Ship Register separately from the Agency’s regulatory functions and a business case exploring the costs and benefits of options for more significant reform of the MCA.