Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect that the increase in funding for the Support for Maritime Training scheme will have on the number of (a) officers and (b) ratings in (i) training and (ii) employment in each of the next five years.

For SMarT Plus, the agreement between Government and the maritime sector and unions is that in return for increased funding the industry will train more seafarers. It will also provide newly qualified SMarT Plus officers with 12 months sea time experience to enable them to gain their 2^nd Certificate of Competency. The agreement is predicated on a graduated increase rising to 1200 cadets annually from 2021/22 onwards.

Given the SMarT Plus proposal focused on increasing cadet numbers, no assessment has been made on the impact of the increase of SMarT funding on the number of ratings.