Gosport Ferry: Crunch time as proposals scrutinised by transport secretary Grant Shapps

Proposals drawn up by the Department for Transport to help keep the Gosport Ferry afloat are in Grant Shapps’ ministerial box this weekend.

Mr Shapps has been lobbied for government funding after passenger numbers plummeted by 90 per cent when coronavirus lockdown hit.

It comes after Gosport MP Caroline Dinenage and Hampshire, Portsmouth and Gosport council leaders met Mr Shapps on Monday to ask for support. He ordered proposals should be with him within 48 hours.

Councils propose that they, the company and government should put in funding to maintain the service.

Since the meeting nearly 8,000 people have signed a ‘Save Gosport Ferry’ petition on change.org - and said: ‘It needs government help and support.’

MP Ms Dinenage said it was a case of ‘really keeping up the pressure’ and she was hopeful a decision ‘positive or not so positive’ would be made by Monday.

‘It’s in the secretary of state’s box to do,’ she said.

The firm is owned by FIH group plc, which in the year to March 2019 recorded an after-tax profit of around £3m.

As reported, passenger numbers have been going down year-on-year on the Gosport Ferry.

Portsmouth City Council leader, Councillor Gerald Vernon-Jackson, said he was concerned about progress.

He said: ‘If the government won’t put any money in, the council can’t put money in on its own.

‘We haven’t heard anything back and we’re now quite worried. He said he’d get back in 48 hours.’

A Department for Transport spokesman said: ‘We recognise how challenging this period is for the transport sector and Gosport Ferry. We are continuing to work with the three councils, local MPs and the company to explore further options for help alongside the wide range of support measures already announced by the Chancellor.’

Workers at the company feel left in limbo. The firm has furloughed 16 of its 36 staff.

NHS, care and emergency services personnel use the ferry to commute between Gosport and Portsmouth.

Councils have deferred a £42,000 monthly charge during the crisis but the company has around £150,000 worth of bills to pay each month.

It is not clear if the holding company has agreed to invest more cash into Gosport Ferry during the lockdown.

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