Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what guidance his Department issues to short sea ferry services on application of the threshold for providing a declaration of equivalence under Section 3 (1) of the Seafarers Wages Act 2023.

The Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 received Royal Assent in March 2023 and its provisions require secondary legislation to bring it fully into force.

The Department consulted on the first part of draft guidance in a public consultation which ran from 13 November to 11 December 2023. We will launch a further consultation on the second part in February 2024 and issue final guidance once we have completed consulting on the guidance and the draft regulations required to bring the Act fully into force.