Martin Callanan MEP “outrage” at hidden threat to Tyne cruise industry
- Created on Monday, 24 October 2011 13:07
- Written by Martin Callanan
The plans were uncovered in a report prepared for Liverpool City Council’s Finance and Resources Select Committee in February this year. Page 142 of the report highlights a project to build a brand new passenger and baggage handling facility and vehicle bridge at the Liverpool Cruise Terminal. The report indicates that Liverpool City Council will spend £10 million of public money on the £23 million scheme. The Council’s Capital Programme Forecast shows that £6 million is budgeted for the financial year 2011/12 and £4 million for 2012/13.
Details of the £23 million project have not been included in an ‘abbreviated consultation’ launched by the Department for Transport on 7th July to look at scrapping the fair competition condition which prevents the Liverpool Cruise Terminal from handling turnaround calls, where cruise ships start and finish their voyages.
The Liverpool Cruise Terminal cost around £20 million with funding from the North West Development Agency, European Regional Development Fund, and Liverpool City Council. The fair competition condition was put in place because other ports that operate turnaround facilities, such as the Port of Tyne, have not received the same public subsidy.
The Department for Transport is consulting on a proposal to remove the fair competition condition if Liverpool City Council repays the Exchequer just £5.3 million over 15 years in equal instalments. There is no intention to repay any of the £9 million from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
The consultation asks interested parties for their views on how they will be affected by the proposal to use the Liverpool Cruise Terminal for turnaround calls and closes on 15th September, resulting in a shorter than usual consultation period.
Martin Callanan MEP said, “Liverpool City Council’s proposal to repay a derisory sum and effectively substitute one form of public subsidy for another is completely unacceptable.
“It does not even pay lip service to the principle of fair competition and totally fails to properly address State Aid issues.
“Peel, the wealthy private company that own the land around the cruise terminal as well as the port, will profit hugely from this proposal if it is approved, and gain a massive unfair advantage.
“All this is cause enough for anger and deep concern.
“But, worse still, the consultation asks for views on the impact of the proposal without mentioning plans to spend another £23 million on turnaround facilities at Liverpool, including £10 million more from the taxpayer.
“I am outraged by this omission since it clearly reinforces the unfairness of the proposal and reveals the true scale of the threat to jobs and investment in the North East.
“I am now co-ordinating with other MEPs, who also represent ports that may be adversely affected, to write to the Commission.
“We are asking the Commission to make sure that the UK Government does not wash its hands of fair competition and State Aid rules, contrary to its legal obligations.
“I am demanding fairness to protect the jobs and investment in the region’s cruise industry which many have worked so hard to attract. It would be perverse for our taxes to be used to take that away from us.
“There is a clear need for the region to send a strong and united message to Government that we expect a fair consultation based on a fair proposal. At the moment we have neither.”