The UK Chancellor Rishi Sunak presented his Autumn Budget and Spending Review to Parliament, promising a £300 million injection into R&D projects to commercialise low and zero emission technologies.
Namely, the Chancellor published his Autumn Budget and Spending Review, which sets out the Government’s spending plans over the next three years. The key announcements from a Maritime UK perspective are as follows:
- The extension of the Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition (CMDC) into a multi-year programme
- Reforms to the UK’s Tonnage Tax regime
- Update on Freeports
- Shipbuilding developments
Commenting on the Budget, Ben Murray, Chief Executive of Maritime UK, said:
“The chancellor’s commitment to fund up to £300m for green maritime is a very welcome and important step on our journey towards net zero, responding to Maritime UK’s Spending Review bid.
“The government’s recent £23 million Clean Maritime Demonstration Competition was massively oversubscribed with ambitious green projects, underscoring the clear opportunity for significantly scaling this investment up.
“As much of the allocated £300 million will need to be invested in maritime as possible to ensure we remain an island of maritime pioneers, and crucially, meet our decarbonisation targets whilst realising as many new jobs as we can in the UK.
“We look forward to continuing to work with the Department for Transport to make progress toward our net zero goals.”
On Tonnage Tax, he added:
“Britain is the natural home for global maritime business, and the government’s reforms to the Tonnage Tax regime for global shipping companies will help ensure it stays that way.
“Alongside the chancellor’s commitment to invest in maritime decarbonisation and skills, this will attract new maritime businesses to the UK, bringing economic benefits from city to coast.
“But the international landscape is competitive, and we urge ministers to keep up this momentum to boost our standing on the global stage. We will be working closely with government on the details of these reforms, to ensure the world knows UK maritime is open for business.”
