Addressing parliament’s transport committee, Shapps also repeated calls for the company’s chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite to resign.
P&O Ferries sparked outrage last month by nearly 800 workers via a Zoom call and replacing them with foreign agency staff earning an average £5.50 an hour. Asked whether P&O had “got away with it”, Shapps said there were several steps he was taking.
“I think they need to repay their furlough money, around £11 million," said Shapps. However, he stressed this was a matter for the company to decide.
Shapps said it was not right for P&O to break the law and claim government support.
He continued: “It is completely unsustainable to have the boss, Peter Hebblethwaite, who came to the committee and openly and deliberately explained how he sought to avoid the law, to break the law – he actually said that was his intention – and that he would do it again, to remain in post. He will have to go.”
Shapps said P&O “would have to pay the minimum wage” and would introduce legislation in the Queen’s Speech on 10 May to enforce this. This will mean Irish Ferries, which moved to a similar pay system in 2007, will also have to increase wages.
“We will ensure in the detail of the Harbours Bill that minimum wage is required for routes that generally ply their trade... in our waters. So they have no choice, they are going to have to pay the proper wage, the minimum wage for the job and I think until they do those three things they won’t find they’re back into the affections of the travelling public.”
Changes to the law would close nine loopholes the P&O case had exposed, Shapps said, including flagging ships overseas to avoid 45 days’ notice of redundancies. "The nine-point plan is to try and tackle every single weakness they have tried to exploit.”
He said civil and criminal proceedings led by the Insolvency Service were already underway and government contracts with P&O would be terminated “wherever possible”.
He added: “The biggest penalty is they are still not operating properly.”
