Today the Department for Transport (DfT) have announced that Government will provide a budget of £12million per year for the support for maritime training (SMarT) scheme for the remainder of this Parliament.
The UK Chamber of Shipping has welcomed the news and issued the following response from Mark Brownrigg, Director General of the Chamber:
“The Chamber is delighted that the Government has recognised the value of the scheme to the maritime sector. This is a good decision by the Minister and we welcome the positive input from the review panel. The announcement will be well received by individual shipping company employers and other training providers, who have delivered excellent value for the Government’s investment to date.
“The retention of SMarT funding is of crucial importance – and has been so particularly over the last decade which has seen numbers of new officer recruits double to circa 900 per year, in parallel with the revival of the UK fleet.
“We will continue to do everything we can to ensure that recruitment can remain at a high level. This is vital to ensure a sufficient supply of personnel with professional maritime skills to both shipping companies and other employers throughout the UK’s maritime cluster.
“It should be recalled that the training is a requirement of the UK’s tonnage tax and that training providers will already have to cope with higher costs resulting from HE and FE funding cuts.”
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World Maritime News Staff, January 23, 2012; Image: UK Chamber of Shipping