Transport secretary Grant Shapps has pledged to bring a “comprehensive package of measures” to Parliament “to block the outcome that P&O Ferries has pursued”.
Shapps wrote to the ferry company’s chief executive, Peter Hebblethwaite, on Monday to make clear that “this government will not stand by while the requirement to treat seafarers with due respect and fairness is brazenly ignored”.
His letter was published on the same day that MPs called for action from Shapps and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng to tackle the “noxious business practices” that saw 800 workers summarily sacked on March 17, to replace them with agency staff on lower salaries.
My letter to P&O boss makes clear that this government will not stand by while the requirement to treat seafarers with due respect and fairness is brazenly ignored. pic.twitter.com/4ozBsydJPC
— Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP (@grantshapps) March 28, 2022
Last week, Hebblethwaite told a committee of MPs that the company knew it was breaking the law by not consulting before the sackings.
Shapps wrote: “The past week has left the reputation of P&O Ferries and, I’m afraid, you personally in tatters.
“Your appearance at the transport select committee, during which you brazenly admitted to breaking employment law, demonstrated beyond doubt your contempt for workers who have given years of service to your company.
“There is no excuse for this behaviour and…I believe your position as chief executive, and indeed as a company director has become untenable.”
Shapps said his package of measures aims to “block the outcome that P&O Ferries has pursued” and he urged the company to reverse its decision immediately by offering jobs back to the sacked staff.
“Our package of measures will prevent the law being broken even when knowingly attempted,” he wrote.
He urged Hebblethwaite to drop the March 31 deadline for seafarers to respond to the redundancy offer, adding: “Given that we intend to ensure such outcomes are prevented by laws – which we will ensure that you cannot simply choose to ignore – I believe you will be left with little choice but to reverse your decision in any case.”
The letter added: “A reversal at this point may also go some way in starting to repair your firm’s reputation with the public, many of whom will show their own disgust at your treatment of workers by simply choosing an alternative operator.”
His letter was sent on the same day that Huw Merriman MP, chair of the select committee, and Darren Jones MP, chair of the business committee, wrote to Shapps and business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng about 10 issues that emerged from their joint meeting last week during which Hebblethwaite explained the reasons for the sackings.
The Chairs of @CommonsTrans and @CommonsBEIS have set out their top-line conclusions in the form of a letter to @grantshapps and @KwasiKwarteng following last week’s joint oral evidence session on @POferries.
Read the letter here
— Transport Committee (@CommonsTrans) March 28, 2022
The MPs said: “P&O Ferries believes that it can buy its way out of the rule of law. The government must immediately disabuse P&O Ferries of that notion.
“In the long- term, the government must update employment law to make it clear that such noxious business practices are not legal and, if used, will result in significant fines.”
They urged the government to prosecute P&O Ferries and remove its licence to operate in the UK and review DP World’s access to taxpayers’ money, “not least in proposed freeports in the UK”.
Furthermore, they said there is a “powerful case” for seafarers serving UK ferry routes to be paid the UK minimum wage – and said Hebblethwaite must resign and be struck off as a company director as he is “not a fit and proper person to run a company”.
The MPs also called for clarification of employment and maritime law and a review of the powers of both the Insolvency Service and Maritime and Coastal Agency “to ensure that they are fit for purpose”.
The transport secretary is expected to outline his plans to change the law on Wednesday or Thursday, before MPs leave Westminster for a two-week Easter recess.