Grant Shapps, the transport secretary, is making a statement to MPs now setting out the government’s response to the sacking of 800 workers by P&O Ferries.
There are nine measures, he says.
First, HM Revenue and Customs will get new resources to check ferry operators are complying with minimum wage law, he says.
HMRC will be dedicating significant resource to check that all UK ferry operators are compliant with the national minimum wage, no ifs, no buts.
Second, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency will review its enforcement policies, to ensure they are fit for purpose, he says.
Third, employers who have not made reasonable efforts to reach agreement about redundancies will not be allowed to use fire and rehire tactics, he says. A statutory code will allow employment tribunals to take this into account, he says. He says, if employers do not consult, under the code they will be liable to a 25% increase in compensation payments.
We will take action to prevent employers who have not made reasonable efforts to reach agreement through consultation from using fire and rehire tactics. So new statutory code will allow a court or employment tribunal to take the manner of dismissal into account, and if an employer fails to comply with the code, impose a 25% uplift to a worker’s compensation.
Fourth, Shapps says he has written to the Insolvency Service saying that he thinks Peter Hebblethewaite, the P&O Ferries chief executive, is not fit to be a company director and asking that it consider disqualifying him.
I have made no secret of my view that P&O Ferries’ boss Peter Hebblethwaite should resign. He set out to break the law and boasted about it to this parliament. So I’ve written to the CEO of the Insolvency Service, conveying my firm belief that Peter Hebblethwaite is unfit to lead a British company. And I have asked them to consider his disqualification.
The Insolvency Service has the legal powers to pursue complaints where a company has engaged in, and I quote, so-called sharp practice. Surely, the whole house agrees that nothing could be sharper than dismissing 800 staff and deliberately breaking the law whilst doing so.
Fifth, there will be more focus on training and welfare in the maritime strategy, Shapps says.
It’s a hard truth that those working at sea do not enjoy the same benefits of those working on land, which brings me to my fifth element of the package today: a renewed focus on the training and welfare elements of flagship maritime strategy.
We are already investing £30m through the Maritime Training Fund to grow our seafarer population, but I will go further, pursuing worldwide agreements at the International Labour Organisation, where we will push for a common set of principles to support maritime workers, including an international minimum wage, a global framework for maritime training and skills.
Sixth, from next week the government will create new incentives for maritime firms to operate from the UK and to have their vessels registered in this country.
Seventh, Shapps says he has opened talks with his counterparts in in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany to discuss how maritime workers on direct routes between the UK and these countries should receive a minimum wage. He says the response has been positive, particularly from France.
Much of maritime law is governed by international laws, obligations and treaties. And this means that we cannot hope to solve the problems alone. So the seventh plank our package today is to engage with international partners.
Now, this week, I have already contacted my counterparts in France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Ireland and Germany to discuss how maritime workers on direct routes between our countries should receive a minimum wage. I’m delighted to say the response has already been very, very positive, particularly with my French counterpart, the minister for transport. So, we will now work quickly with these counterparts to explore the creation of minimum wage corridors between our nations.
But he says the UK cannot unilaterally change minimum wage rules for seafarers. That is because maritime law is governed by international conventions, he says.
Eighth, Shapps says the government will legislate to allow ports to turn away vessels from ferry companies not paying the minimum wage.
Jim Pickard
(@PickardJE)Grant Shapps tells the Commons:
“I can announce to the House our 8th measure, intention to give British ports new statutory powers to refuse access to regular ferry services which do not pay their crew a national minimum wage, we will achieve this through primary legislation…”
He goes on:
We will achieve this through primary legislation to amend the Harbours Act 1964. And it means that if companies like P&O Ferries want to dock in ports, such as Dover and Hull and Liverpool, they will have no choice but to comply with this legislation.
Crucially, it means that P&O Ferries can derive no benefit from the action that they have disgracefully taken.
So my message to P&O Ferries is this. The game is up, rehire those who want to return and pay your workers all of your workers a decent wage.
And, ninth, Shapps says that, although it will take time to pass the legislation mentioned above (point 8), he says he will be writing to ports urging them to refuse access now to companies not paying the minimum wage. He will tell them they will have the full backing of the government in doing this, he says.
