UK port operators blast Government over £35m Liverpool grant
Rival port companies argue the grant contravenes the Government's stated policy for the industry, published in January, that stresses how private companies compete "without subsidy", The Telegraph reports.
Peel, which runs the Mersey ports, stands to be the major beneficiary of an application by Sefton Borough Council for money from the Regional Growth Fund to help finance a dredging project. The channel deepening is associated with Peel's plans to build a new £226m container terminal capable of handling some of the world's biggest ships.
In a confrontational meeting late last month, senior executives from the ports of Felixstowe, Bristol and Southampton gave the Department for Transport's maritime director Ian Woodman a rough ride over what they see as an incoherent policy likely to deter private investment.
The meeting followed representations to Business Secretary Vince Cable by the Haven Gateway Partnership, an umbrella body of businesses and local councils on the east coast that includes Felixstowe-owner Hutchison Ports and the 21-strong Associated British Ports.
In a letter to Mr Cable, the partnership's chairman George Kieffer complained of "market distortion", saying: "The proposed grant will have a direct impact on a number of other UK ports beyond the Port of Felixstowe with London Gateway and Southampton likely to be the most significantly affected."
Acknowledging that the National Ports Policy Statement did allow for elements of state funding, Mr Kieffer added: "A grant of £35m for total capital expenditure estimated at £40.8m can hardly be considered co-funding in terms of the NPPS."
He also took issue with the application being made by Sefton council on the basis that dredging benefited "all river users", even though Peel was the proposed managing agent for the works.
"It appears to us that the choice of applicant is a device to circumvent the issues of state aid which would apply if Peel Ports had been the applicant," he said.
In his reply, Mr Cable said the Government's "broad policy remains that the ports industry does, and should continue to, operate on commercial lines without public subsidy". However, he said "ports, like other businesses, can be eligible to apply for various grants".
