Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many new training roles for UK seafarers were created under the approved core training commitments submitted by company groups that qualified for the Tonnage Tax scheme between October 2012 and September 2013; how many such roles he expects to be created between October 2013 and September 2014; and what the cumulative training commitment is of companies qualifying for that scheme in 2013-14.

Approved core training commitments for the 2012-13 training commitment year were for around 600 new first year officer trainees; the comparable figure for the 2013-14 training commitment year is around 550. Additionally, company groups are required to provide second and third year training for trainees taken on during the previous two years when they were in the tonnage tax. For 2013-14, this cumulative training commitment, including first, second and third year trainees, is for over 1,700 officer trainees.