Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will restore the counter service in the Tyne marine office.
Answered by John Hayes
As part of the overall Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme, the closure of Tyne Marine Office will save the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) £88k per annum.
As a direct response to the feedback received during the consultation, the MCA has retained its presence in the north east of England by opening the exam centre in South Tyneside College.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency will continue to offer customers an appointment based service when appropriate.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of marine surveyors who will be directly employed by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency in each year from 2016-17 to 2019-20.
Answered by John Hayes
The number of Marine Surveyors, full time equivalents, employed at the Maritime and Coastguard Agency as at 31 March 2017 was 107, including five Ensign Surveyors.
For each of the subsequent years, through to 2019/20, the forecast is for 128, including nine Ensign Surveyors.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the cost of implementing the new remote IT system for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has been.
Answered by John Hayes
There has not been, and there is no plan for, a new remote IT system specifically to support Marine Surveyors working remotely for the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).
The MCA already provides each surveyor with a laptop, mobile phone and printer to support the undertaking of survey and Port State Control inspections at ports. Surveyors are able to, and have been for some time, working remotely using the existing IT equipment.
However, replacement equipment will be issued across the whole of the MCA from April 2017, in line with an organisation-wide refresh.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the annual saving to the public purse of closing the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Tyne Marine Office.
Answered by John Hayes
As part of the overall Survey and Inspection Transformation Programme, the closure of Tyne Marine Office will save the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) £88k per annum.
As a direct response to the feedback received during the consultation, the MCA has retained its presence in the north east of England by opening the exam centre in South Tyneside College.
Asked by: Emma Lewell (Labour - South Shields)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, for what reasons the Maritime and Coastguard Agency decided to save the Beverley Marine Office from closure; and if he will make a statement.
Answered by John Hayes
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency conducted a consultation exercise on the Survey and Inspection Transformation programme to determine the optimum locations for Marine Offices. The output of this consultation exercise identified the retention of an office in the Hull/Beverley area as preferable.