UK’s port strategy moving forwar
UK Shipping Minister, Mike Penning MP, met with the All-Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group this week, to give the industry an update in terms of the Government’s port strategy moving forward.
“For too many years the UK shipping industry has not been taken seriously”, he said. “But the fact of the matter is, this country won’t get out of the economic crisis without it.”
So how does the shipping minister aim to help support the industry in so far as ports are concerned? “By encouraging the use of smaller ports and improving infrastructure to take more boxes,” he said. “Smaller UK ports are not currently utilised in the way thatthey could be.”
Sounds simple doesn’t it, but it’s actually a logistical nightmare to improve infrastructure on a smallisland. But as one attendee said to Port Strategy during the meeting:”It’s entirely possible if every aspect of the industry works together – it works in other countries.”
The government intends to put in more road and rail links to improve traffic flow away from ports – and it was pointedout that there is money available to encourage these improvements in infrastructuretoo.
“Industry wants to see investment, but we really need to look at private sector funding to do this as well- budgets are limited”, Mr Penning said.
The question of European and UK subsidies and the need to create a “level playing field” between trusts, private and municipal ports was also raised. But talkingabout the landlord model, Mr Penning was clear in his opinion: “It needs to be fair to the economy instead of just to the ports.”
Perhaps there is a need to clearly define what a UK port is in the21st century.
Source: Port Strategy
