Nautilus welcomes seafarer training support decision
UK government will support the training of merchant seafarers Nautilus International has welcomed the shipping minister's announcement that the UK government will continue to provide support for the training of merchant seafarers.Fears for the future of the Support for Maritime Training (SMarT) scheme - which covers around 40% of the costs of the three-year studies to gain a Merchant Navy officer's certificate - were generated when the government announced a wide-ranging review of the measures last year.But shipping minister Mike Penning announced today that, following an independent analysis of SMarT - the government had decided to retain the scheme and guarantee support at 12m a year for the life of the Parliament, including 2014-15. The focus of the support will be on training cadets to their first certificate of competency, for ratings' training and for ratings studying to become officers.The minister also announced number of additional changes to the SMarT system, including skewing payments so that more is paid over when the cadet qualifies and tightening up accountability so that the outcomes of the support can be better measured. Mr Penning said he will also consider longer-term options to deliver Merchant Navy training within an overarching skills and apprenticeship framework.Nautilus ...
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