Consideration of Commons amendments and / or reasons in the Lords
- Speaker
Baroness Scott of Needham Market (LD)Liberal Democrat- Quote
- My Lords, I thank the Minister for bringing these amendments. I confess that when the Bill finished its passage through this House, I felt rather depressed that I had not been able to convince the Government that there were some fundamental flaws, but the changes today show that the Government were convinced. The problem, I think, was not quite understanding the nature of the relationship between harbour authorities and the vessel operators that use the harbour. Putting them in the position of trying very hard to get the business of operators and then leaving it up to them as to whether they take action against them just did not feel right, particularly in cases where the vessel operators and the harbour authority are under the same ownership—there is a direct conflict of interests. All these amendments that change powers into duties are a really welcome clarification, particularly the duty on the Secretary of State and not the harbour authority to set surcharges. I have two questions for the Minister. On Amendment 36, spending funds on seafarers’ welfare facilities is a really smart idea, but has anything been considered to ensure that any money spent this way will be additional and will not simply replace money that the vessel operators or harbour authorities would have spent anyway? Finally, and in many ways most importantly, on Amendment 44 and the refusal of access to a port under certain circumstances, I know that the industry was concerned that this would not be lawful under international maritime regulations and would amount to impeding the right of passage. , Has the noble Baroness had any further discussions with the industry and has she been able to convince its members that they are on safe legal ground?
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- 15:45
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- Speaker
Baroness Taylor of Stevenage (Lab)Labour- Quote
- My Lords, I am very pleased to support the Motion before the House today in the name of the Minister. The action taken by P&O Ferries was a national scandal which should have marked a line in the sand, and any attempt to prevent a repeat of such events will always be welcome. On that basis, we have supported the limited measures in the Bill, but given the limited scope of this legislation, my noble friend Lord Tunnicliffe and others also called for broader measures beyond wages. The wider issues, including roster patterns, wages and pensions, have yet to be addressed, and I hope the House will soon see further legislation to deliver these. It would also be helpful to know how those responsible for such exploitative practices can be brought to justice, and there are still serious health and safety concerns regarding the working conditions of seafarers. We also have to consider the much wider problem of fire and rehire—another favourite of exploitative employers—but I am sure that is for another Bill on another day. However, as much as I am disappointed that many of these problems remain, I am pleased that the Government have now introduced amendments, as set out in detail by the Minister, on issues which required clarification. These new amendments, including in relation to tariffs, fines, surcharges, the information that a harbour authority can request from an operator and the introduction of relevant offences, each have our support. It is important as well that it is not the harbour authority that sets the charge, as this raised a number of issues. We agree that spending money on seafarers is appropriate and right, and I am interested in the Minister’s answer to the question from the noble Baroness, Lady Scott. I will finish by expressing how grateful I am that the noble Baroness, Lady Vere of Norbiton, has engaged with the House throughout the passage of the Bill. I thank her for her time in a meeting to explain progress on the Bill on my second day as transport spokesperson, and for her patience in answering all my questions. I thank the noble Baroness, Lady Scott, for her involvement and contribution to the Bill. I thank the trade unions for continuing to champion the cause of seafarers and my noble friends on the Front Bench, particularly my noble friend Lord Tunnicliffe for his personal support and for bringing his encyclopaedic knowledge to bear during the passage of the Bill. I hope the House will share our support for the Bill.
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- 15:45
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- Speaker
Baroness Vere of Norbiton (Con)Conservative- Quote
- My Lords, I am very grateful for the short contributions from both noble Baronesses today. I am relieved and grateful for the support of both Benches and I recognise the enormous amount of work that has gone on behind the scenes to bring the Bill to where it is today. The noble Baroness, Lady Scott, showed exemplary diligence as we took the Bill through, and I reassure her that I did this all the way through: sometimes, it just takes a little time to get the amendments drafted and through the system. Hence, they did not come back to your Lordships’ House; they went to the Commons, but I think we can take full credit for them. On the noble Baroness’s detailed question about Amendment 36, on whether the amounts are additional, we absolutely expect that they would be. If needed, we would provide guidance in that area. We hope that there will not be significant additional amounts of money flowing into this area, because if there are, we will have failed in our endeavours; but I will certainly ensure that we provide appropriate guidance and that that money is additional to the money that is already spent on seafarers’ welfare at ports. On refusal of access to ports, we are satisfied that the sector is aware of where refusal of access is appropriate when relating to whether or not an equivalence declaration is in place. The vessel operator will often know before it will have left the port because, often, many of these vessels are on short journeys. Of course, there will be circumstances, as there always are, when, for humanitarian or environmental reasons, one would provide access to port to any vessel, whether that would be one covered by this Bill or not. On the broader measures raised by the noble Baroness, Lady Taylor—and I welcome her to transport; this was, I am sure, a baptism of fire going straight into this Bill—we are working at pace on all of the elements in the nine-point plan. We are looking at research on roster patterns. The seafarers’ charter is quite well developed, and I hope to have more on that soon. We have had discussions with our French counterparts: I have met the Minister twice, and we are due to have another meeting shortly to make progress with our neighbours in France to see what we can do to match up with the legislation that they have already placed in their Parliament. Of course, the noble Baroness will have seen that my colleagues in the Department for Business and Trade have launched their consultation on a code of practice on “fire and rehire”. Having said all that, I beg to move.
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