Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 20 May 2019 to Question 253563 on Shipping: Training, how many Ratings were trained through the SMarT scheme from (a) 1998-99 to 2010-11.

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) does not hold records for the number of Ratings who were trained through the SMarT scheme prior to 2011-12.

Prior to 2011-12, SMarT funding was available for training for Ratings and concessionaires, such as hairdressers and gift shop workers. All of these were required to take the four basic safety courses: Personal Survival Techniques; Fire Prevention and Fire Fighting; Elementary First Aid; and Personal Safety and Social Responsibility, in order to work on board ships.

As the data held is anonymised, the MCA cannot differentiate between those trainees who were Ratings, working towards obtaining the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) Rating Certificate, and those concessionaires working on board vessels in another role.

In 2011, the SMarT scheme policy changed and funding for concessionaire training was no longer available for 2011-12 onwards.