On 23rd January 2012, despite the massive financial problems swirling around Greece and the rest of the European Union, the Conservative Government in the UK announced that it had decided to continue its fi- nancial support for maritime training in the UK. The Secretary of State for Transport Mr Mike Penning, made the announcement to the UK Parlia- ment after receiving a report from a Review Panel which included the General Secretary of Nautilus Inter- national, Mark Dickinson pictured right. Nautilus represents maritime professionals – engineer officers and deck officers – in the UK and the Netherlands.
The Review Panel was asked to consider a ma- jor report pre- pared by De- loittes and Ox- ford Econom- ics. AIMPE has obtained a copy of this re- port and it can be accessed on the website
www.aimpe.
asn.au. The announcement of continua- tion of the UK Government support by Mr
value for money case for the retention of Government funding. Evidence was present- ed to me showing that for each working year of a seafarer who has benefitted from Gov- ernment funding, ap- proximately £14,500 in additional output is created relative to that of a UK worker displaying average productivity. With over 90% of the UK’s import and export trade by weight transport- ed by the maritime sector, I believe continuing Government support in
Our ships - your future
supporting initial train- ing for cadets studying at junior officer level with the remainder sup- porting ratings training and ratings to officer conversion training. I will be making a num- ber of minor changes to the current scheme to achieve greater value for money by maxi- mising the intake of trainees while ensuring
more rigorous accountability struc- tures are in place.
Ninety Five per cent of the UK’s international trade arrives or leaves by sea. The Government seeks to ensure that the UK shipping industry remains a major player globally. Within the European Maritime Sate Aid Guidelines the Government provides support to the industry with the aim of maintaining and increasing the seafaring skills base. The Government meets roughly up to half of the training cosys through the Support for Maritime Training scheme and requires companies who enter into the Tonnage Tax regime to train a certain number of officer trainees. The Government also supports the industry through the Seafarer Earnings Deduction tax relief scheme for certain seafarers and the Crew Relief Costs Scheme.
Penning was in the following terms: I would like to inform Parliament of the outcome of the independent review into the requirement for Gov- ernment support for merchant navy training and skills development and how best to spend any continuing Government funding.
I have concluded that continuing Government support for maritime training is required. The consultants’ findings, accepted by the independent panel, were that there was a good
On Watch March 2012 page 6
this area will reflect our ongoing com- mitment to economic growth and will help to maintain the competitiveness of this sector.
I have therefore decided to provide a budget of £12million a year for the support for maritime training scheme for the remainder of this Parliament. In view of the forecast national short- age of trained seafarers and the need to develop the next generation of UK officers and ratings, I intend that the majority of the budget be focussed on
These changes are consistent with the Government’s wider commitment to im- prove the transparency and accountabil- ity of public spending. I will also be considering longer-term options to deliver mer- chant navy training within an overarching skills and apprentice- ship frame- work.
The report indicates
that the bulk of the £12million is di- rected to officer training. The Australian Government’s package of proposed sup- port measures for the maritime industry does not go as far as to allocate any special funding to maritime training. The general training subsidy for Australian employers - the Productivity Places Program – does not include Diploma/ Associate Diploma level training such as that required for Engineer Officers.
Martin Byrne
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