Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the number of seafarers working on ships that regularly use UK ports who are paid less than the national minimum wage.

In 2023, the Government passed the Seafarers’ Wages Act to address this issue. Based on data and assumptions used in the Seafarers’ Wages Act 2023 impact assessment (https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/62e2aa8ed3bf7f75af0923d5/seafarers-wages-impact-assessment.pdf), the Government’s most recent estimate is that 4,400 individuals working on services in scope of the Act (i.e. those working on international services calling at a UK port at least 120 times a year) may be being paid less than the UK national minimum wage. The secondary legislation that the Department is consulting on currently will bring the Act into force to address this issue.