Introduction

26. Accurate and reliable information is an essential tool for the development of a strategy for the industry and for assessing and enhancing its role in the wider economic and commercial arena. Unfortunately, there appears to be a remarkable lack of information about the ports industry.[19] We were astonished that many of the statistics we asked for in the course of this inquiry were not available. Where contemporary figures existed they were based on limited, and occasionally questionable, surveys or simply anecdotal material.

Available Information

27. In a supplementary memorandum the then Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions (DETR), under the general heading of 'Gaps in Information', listed six major areas where available statistical data was either ambiguous or incomplete. These were:

• Employment: "no precise data exist on employment at ports";
• Health and safety: "there are no precise statistics available on accidents occurring at ports";
• Infrastructure: "although industry publications provide information on the facilities available at some ports, it is difficult to extract this information meaningfully or consistently";
• Integrated Transport: "no reliable or comprehensive statistics are available on the movement of goods to and from ports by modes of transport";
• Economic data: "there are no readily available statistics on revenue and expenditure at ports";
• Transshipment at container ports: "the Department's port traffic statistics do not allow you to measure the level of transshipment at container ports."[20]

28. The statistics available now are worse than they were in the past. The DETR noted that data relating to employment, health and safety and infrastructure "were formerly collected by surveys conducted by the National Ports Council and then the British Ports Federation. These provided reasonably comprehensive data by port. Since then however, no systematic collection of information has taken place."[21]

29. As Mr Carr of the TGWU pointed out, one of the chief failings in the present position is "a standard industry categorisation system which fails to pinpoint [sic]. In the port industry, if we want to look at figures on cargo handling, they would be lumped in with the marine and fishing industries and things like that."[22] The effect of this is that there are no clear data on what actually happens in ports themselves. The Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) systems must be modified as a matter of urgency, in order to facilitate the collection of precise data on the port industry.

30. In March 2001, our predecessor committee was told that the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions intended to develop better statistics: "There could be a range of aspects from the statistics on aspects like ship turnaround and container movements, statistics on dwell times, statistics on environmental issues and of course, as we have already mentioned, the safety issue which is another aspect of performance efficiency … The task is first of all in identifying which would be the most useful and informative, and secondly in agreeing with the industry, the merit of collecting the information and sharing it."[23]

31. Two years later the Department for Transport was saying much the same thing: "There is also a role for Government in the dissemination of facts and figures about the industry, so that those in the industry, and those affected by the operations of the industry are aware of the wider picture. The Department is in discussion with the industry on the best way of collecting and publishing relevant statistics."[24]

Employment Statistics

32. There is also a serious lack of systematic information on employment or labour turnover in the various sectors of the industry. In the early 1990s there were adequate, albeit limited statistics on such things as total employment in specific categories. Unfortunately this data is no longer available. There continues to be a variable pattern of demand for labour due to the irregular arrival of vessels and the cycle of trade, but current levels of employment, on a permanent, semi permanent or casual basis are unknown.[25]Table 1: Employment in UK Ports 1983-1992

Worker Category	1983	1985	1987	1988	1989	1990	1991	1992	% Change[26]
Dock Workers and other Cargo Handlers	23,058	19,340	18,001	17,425	17,871	14,421	12,515	11,765	-49
Other Manual Workers[27]	5,076	4,051	3,338	3,162	3,404	2,825	2,386	1,995	-61
Craftsmen including apprentices	3,924	3,435	2,948	2,837	3,238	3,113	2,847	2,524	-36
Marine Workers[28]	5,059	4,639	4,577	4,581	5,113	5,046	4,951	4,517	-11
Clerical and Administration Workers	7,788	6,823	6,300	5,869	6,455	6,115	5,271	4,769	-39
Foremen/Supervisors	3,211	2,769	2,492	2,611	2,904	2,498	2,302	2,247	-30
Managers[29]	2,557	2,404	2,598	2,607	3,005	3,087	2,784	2,720	+6
All Workers[30]	51,230	43,956	40,709	39,545	42,492	38,173	34,037	31,487	-38

Data Source: British Ports Federation

33. Table 1 shows that there was a decline in the overall levels of employment within the port industry, which was particularly marked in the decade 1983 to 1992. But within this total, individual groups had differing experiences. The greatest job losses were among the dockers and manual workers groups where the contraction was in excess of 50 per cent. The sole exception was the managerial group where there was a marginal increase. The fact that there is no current data of comparable detail must make it harder to consider what policies would help the industry, and where training is most needed.

34. This is important, since deregulation has created conditions for the return of casual contracts of one form or another. Indeed, it appears that, within the context of the UK port industry as a whole, the majority are now casual workers, with a small minority of permanent or core employees. How far this is applicable to the UK major ports is unclear, but their dependence on temporary or casual workers, particularly at peak times, is unquestionable. We need to know the extent to which dock work is carried out by skilled employees, and the extent to which casualisation has led to a reduction in the skills base.

35. The data also fails to distinguish between different categories of employees. As the Department for Transport points out, "if someone is engaged in work in the port, they would be classed as a worker in whatever status, temporary or on the payroll or whatever it might be."[31]

36. In addition, the figures for accidents in the course of employment are collected on what appears to be a largely voluntary basis within the industry.[32] These are not generally published at national level. Where accident statistics are available, they are produced on a different basis within specific ports or companies. Furthermore, these differ in practice from other industries, making a cross industrial comparison extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Maritime Statistics Directive

37. Some improvement may be brought about by the EU directive on Maritime Statistics which requires Member States to supply to the Statistical Office of the European Communities (Eurostat) information relating to maritime traffic through its ports. Although the directive was passed in December 1995[33] and obliged the Member States to collect the information from 1 January 1997, it allowed States a period of up to three years to adapt their statistical systems to fulfil the Directive criteria. As the United Kingdom's statistical systems needed considerable adaptation, the Government obtained a derogation until 1 January 2000.

38. The detailed data has to be provided by the shipping lines or their agents for freight movements through major UK ports (i.e. those handling more than one million tonnes of freight per annum). In addition, port authorities at major ports have to provide quarterly aggregated data to confirm the completeness of the data collected from these shipping or lines agents.[34] The data will be used by the European Commission to assist in policy development at community level and to monitor the impact of general policy measures.

39. Additional analysis may be possible using the extra data collected - for example, the publication of quarterly statistics in addition to traffic flows may also be made available as a result of the Directive. However, the Department will continue to respect the confidentiality of individual operators' information when disseminating data.

40. Although implementation of the Directive will clearly increase the amount of information available, it has an essentially limited base covering only commodity, passenger movement and vessel characteristics. Far more wide-ranging and better quality information is needed to underpin a coherent and effective policy for ports.

41. The existing statistical information on ports falls seriously short of what is required by a modern industry. Although the Department for Transport acknowledges this, there appears to be no sense of urgency in addressing this need for accurate statistics. It is a disgrace that there is so little statistical information on an industry so vital to the United Kingdom's economic and commercial prosperity. We are astonished that so little progress has been made in developing the statistical base necessary to inform policy. The Department for Transport must produce regular statistics on port activity in collaboration with industry. This should cover in detail employment, health and safety, infrastructure and general economic data. Statistics on the accidents, injuries and illness to dockworkers are particularly important and must be made available on a national basis.

20   HC (2000-01) 244i-iv, p.200 Back

21   Ibid Back

22   HC (2000-01) 244 i-iv, Q 391  Back

23   HC (2000-01) 244 i-iv, Q 72 Back

24   A Project Appraisal Framework for Ports: Commentary on Responses to the Consultation, Para 10 April 2003, p 7.  Back

25   Qq 549-582, 18 June 2003 Back

26   Percentage change 1983 to 1992. Back

27   Including semi-skilled workers and ancillary workers such as canteen staff, messengers and cleaners. Back

28   Including pilots from 1990. Back

29   Including management trainees from 1987. Back

30   Total including security and police from 1990. Back

31   Q 550, 18 June 2003 Back

32   HC (2000-01) 244 i-iv, p. 233, Q 429, 18 June 2003 Back

33   Council Directive 96/64/EC. Back

34   The Directive requires the collection of statistics on freight traffic, vessels and passenger traffic through ports throughout the European Union. Data relating to freight traffic is only being collected in detail for UK ports handling more than one million tonnes of freight per annum ('major ports'). This detailed data includes: The reporting port; The Lloyds Register Number (or IMO Number) for the vessel (or name, flag and deadweight); The direction of movement (inwards or outwards); Port of loading for inwards cargo or unloading for outwards cargo; For unitised traffic: The type of units (container, accompanied trailer, unaccompanied trailer etc.); Whether they are loaded or empty units; The number of units and the freight tonnage; For other traffic: The broad product group and freight tonnage. This data has to be provided at least quarterly and is being collected primarily from shipping lines or their agents In addition, the 'major' port authorities (where traffic exceeds one million tonnes per annum) are providing the following information on a 'retrospective' quarterly basis: The names of all shipping lines and agents using their port; The identity of all vessels using their port; and The gross weight and number of units of goods in and out of their Port. Data for other ports, handling less than one million tonnes a year, is being provided only annually in summary form by port authorities.  Back