Andrew Turner, the Island’s MP, last week raised the subject of the Light Dues shipping tax in Parliament.

Light Dues are a tax that merchant and larger fishing vessels must pay when docking in UK and Irish ports. The revenue goes towards the upkeep of lighthouses, lightships and other nautical navigational aids. However, the system is anachronistic and inequitable. Shipping companies are forced to contribute towards the upkeep of Irish lights, even if they do not call at Irish ports. In 2004, the Government promised to abolish the Irish lights subsidy but this has never happened. In February of this year, the Government launched a consultation exercise looking at raising the Light Dues tax. The proposed tax hike could cost shipping companies hundreds of thousands of pounds a year extra to dock in the UK.

During the debate, Andrew Turner said:
“[The Department for Transport] has let panic set in...No one will be surprised to learn that the situation has caused unparalleled outrage among the international and UK shipping communities. News of the additional burden has reached Bombay, Tokyo, Shanghai, New York and all world cities that control major shipping lines.”

Mr Turner added:
“The impact of the changes will increase the burden of charges on some sectors of the shipping industry by a whopping 115%. The Government assume that deep-sea vessels will continue to call at UK ports, including the busy port of Southampton, regardless of cost. I suggest that that is risky.”

Another contributor to the debate, Julian Brazier MP, the Shadow Transport Minister said:
“When businesses face severe difficulties, there is a particularly strong onus on Government to minimise potential additional costs. As a number of hon. Members, including my hon. Friend [Mr Turner], have remarked, the shipping industry has been particularly hard hit by the current economic turmoil.”

After the debate, Mr Turner said:
“I raised this issue at Westminster because I am concerned that Government proposals to increase Light Dues could cause incalculable damage to trade coming to Southampton through the Solent and elsewhere. I understand that such taxes are not applied in most EU countries – which could be a powerful incentive to avoid UK docks.

“The Light Dues controversy has been going on for a long time. A parliamentary debate, dating back 111 years to 1898, called for ‘an earnest attempt to deal with a matter which has been a scandal for the last 70 years.’ This puts the problem back to as early as the 1820s!”

Mr Turner added:
“During the debate, I called on the Department for Transport Under-Secretary of State, Jim Fitzpatrick MP, to suspend plans to increase Light Dues and to provide a timetable for removing the Irish subsidy. I was pleased to hear that Mr Fitzpatrick had recently come to a more balanced arrangement with the Irish authorities, but I do not believe this is enough. I was disappointed that Mr Fitzpatrick could not assure me that the proposed Light Dues increases would be frozen. We must end the inequity of the current system and, at the same time, safeguard the income and jobs that the shipping trade brings to this country.”

END Contact : Andrew Turner’s office 01983 530808

The full debate can be found at:

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200809/cmhansrd/cm090602/halltext/90602h0001.htm#09060250000001