Tag: Ian Mearns

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, with reference to paragraph 1.17 of the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security, published in May 2014, how many meetings there have been of the ministerial working group on maritime security.

Mr Tobias Ellwood

As Chairman, I write to the members of the Ministerial Working Group on maritime security biannually with operational and policy updates, the most recent of these was on 19 November. The Ministerial Working Group intends to meet in 2016 to discuss the implications of the National Security Strategy and Strategic Defence and Security Review.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department has taken to implement recommendation 15 of the Department for Transport’s Maritime Growth Study, published in September 2015, on improving links between the Royal Navy and the wider UK maritime sector.

Penny Mordaunt

The Royal Navy (RN) has a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to allow Warfare Officers to obtain commercial Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) certificates of competency. Discussions with the MCA have commenced to develop a similar MOU for Engineer Officers and Ratings. More widely the RN continues to seek to align its training with STCW requirements. The RN Resettlement Service also offers impartial advice on second careers with many strong links with maritime sector organisations and companies.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to update the National Maritime Security Strategy to 2019 to include the Government’s policy on the role of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Penny Mordaunt

The National Strategy for Maritime Security was published in May 2014 and remains relevant to today’s challenges in the maritime domain. However, as we implement the outcomes of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, we will consider whether the strategy should be reviewed.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what discussions he has had with his Ministerial colleagues on the potential effect of the recommendations of the Maritime Growth Study, published in September 2015, on the future supply of UK-domiciled merchant seafarers to the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.

Penny Mordaunt

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) recruits and trains UK Merchant Seafarers for service with the RFA. The RFA as one of the largest trainers of UK seafarers is fully engaged with the UK Chamber of Shipping and Merchant Navy Training Board in shaping the current and future training requirements of seafarers. The RFA as part of the wider Naval Service is represented at the Ministerial Working Groups for the Maritime Growth Study by the Royal Navy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the National Maritime Information Centre holds live records on the range of merchant shipping that is UK-owned.

James Brokenshire

The National Maritime Information Centre (NMIC) plays an integral role in the delivery of the UK National Strategy for Maritime Security. One of the NMIC’s roles is to monitor and track maritime activity around the UK and in areas of national interest around the globe in response to taskings from Government departments or agencies. This is achieved by using a variety of systems which include the interpretation of Automatic Identification System (AIS) transponder data which enables the NMIC to identify and monitor all vessels transmitting on the AIS system. The systems available to the NMIC can identify all Red Ensign Group vessels using AIS, that is vessels registered on one of the international shipping registries operated by the UK (including a Crown Dependency or an Overseas Territory). There are vessels owned by UK entities that are registered in other states and therefore fly the flag of that state. It may not be immediately apparent that such vessels have a UK owner, however, they will still appear on the NMIC systems.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the Royal Fleet Auxiliary’s (a) operational and (b) crew costs were in each year from 2008-09 to 2015-16.

Penny Mordaunt

The information is not held in the format requested and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what each of the flag registers of vessels owned by company groups that qualified for inclusion in the tonnage scheme in 2014-15 was; and how many vessels in that scheme were registered under each of those flags.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The ships which company groups anticipated would be included in the tonnage tax at the beginning of the 2014-15 training commitment year were under the following flags: United Kingdom, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Brazil, the Cayman Islands, Cyprus, Finland, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Hong Kong, Isle of Man, Liberia, Luxembourg, Malta, the Marshall Islands, the Netherlands, Norway, Panama, St Vincent and the Grenadines and Singapore. The identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, and that confidentiality could be compromised by giving a detailed breakdown by flag of the numbers of vessels entered in tonnage tax. I am therefore unable to disclose the numbers of vessels registered under each flag.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many merchant seafarers were employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary in each year from 2008-09 to 2015-16.

Penny Mordaunt

The number of Royal Fleet Auxiliary employees on 1 Apr for each year 2008-09 to 2015-16 are as follows:

All totals are rounded in accordance with the Defence Statistics rounding policy.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2015-12-03.

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of UK seafarer (a) ratings and (b) officers were employed on category one Red Ensign Group registered vessels that qualified for the tonnage tax scheme in each year since 2000-01.

Mr Robert Goodwill

The Department does not collect the information requested. As the identity of tonnage tax groups is tax confidential, we would not be able to disclose the information requested, if it were available, as it might make it possible to identify individual tonnage tax groups.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Ian Mearns on 2016-06-08.

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many merchant seafarers employed by the Royal Fleet Auxiliary took voluntary redundancy in each year from 2008-09 to 2015-16.

Penny Mordaunt

None.