At a joint hearing of parliament’s transport and business select committees last week, MPs heard from a range of stakeholders involved in the dispute, including P&O Ferries’ chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite, P&O Ferries parent company DP World, general secretary of the RMT union Mick Lynch and both legal and employment specialists.

Transport minister Robert Courts and business minister Paul Scully also gave evidence on behalf of their respective departments.

It comes after P&O Ferries on 18 March sacked the best part of 800 UK seafarers and replaced them with foreign workers paid below minimum wage.

Hebblethwaite told the committee P&O Ferries acted in full knowledge it was breaking the law by failing to give notification of the proposed sackings or consult staff and unions.

Writing to transport secretary Grant Shapps and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng on Monday (28 March), transport select committee chair Huw Merriman MP and business select committee chair Darren Jones set out 10 "top-line conclusion" and remarked on the "appalling" nature of some of the evidence presented at the hearing.

"Both departments must legislate to tackle the issues raised by the P&O Ferries case," they said, their letter coming hours after Shapps wrote anew to Hebblethwaite urging P&O Ferries to reinstate the sacked staff and warning the government would legislate to achieve the same outcome if the firm failed to act.

The committee’s headline finding concerned the government’s response to the situation, stressing members’ foremost concern was the welfare and employment rights of the nearly 800 seafarers sacked by P&O Ferries.
"Government has not moved sufficiently quickly to support them," said Merriman and Jones. "Going forward, ministers must prioritise the wellbeing of those 800 seafarers."

They further remarked on how there was uncertainty around "the nature and application of employment of maritime law", noting Courts’ submission there needed to be an investigation into the extent to which the two key government departments involved – transport and business – knew their own legal powers.

Additionally, the committees highlighted how the Insolvency Service and Maritime and Coastal Agency "apparently lack the powers and capabilities to address the issues raised by the P&O Ferries case", noting the sluggish nature of the Insolvency Service’s response "when set against the speed and scale of events".

‘Noxious’

Merriman and Jones said P&O Ferries had tried to "buy its way out of the rule of law" after Hebblethwaite admitted the firm had willingly chosen to break the law by failing to consult on the sackings, branding its actions "noxious".

They also urged the government to exercise its right to apply an unlimited fine, and to prosecute P&O Ferries with a view to removing its UK operating licence.

The panel additionally agreed:

• Government should use an injunction to force compensation to be paid in cases where employers choose not to consult staff before sacking them;
• Government should review P&O Ferries parent, Dubai-based DP World’s, access to taxpayers’ money, particularly in respect of the UK’s freeport proposals;
• That there was a "powerful case" for seafarers sailing on ferries to and from UK ports to be paid the UK minimum wage; and
• That P&O Ferries boss Hebblethwaite should resign and be struck off as a company director.

The committee has asked for Shapps and Kwarteng to respond to the letter by 4 April owing to the urgency of the situation.