Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent discussions he has had with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency on the application of merchant shipping legislation to crew accommodation standards on each Royal Fleet Auxiliary vessel.

The Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) complies with the requirements of the Maritime Labour Convention (MLC) 2006, as mandated by law. In respect of those provisions that are not legally binding, the RFA endeavours to uphold an equivalent standard wherever practicable. Deviation from these standards will only occur when necessitated by urgent operational requirements.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) will monitor shipboard standards against the requirements of the MLC as part of the ISM Code Safety Management certification process.