International accountant and shipping adviser Moore Stephens has welcomed an initiative by the UK Department for Transport (DfT) which it says will encourage the training of ratings. The DfT is to pilot a change to the tonnage tax training commitment which will allow three ratings to be trained in place of one officer-cadet. It will gather evidence regarding this proposed change with a view to making it permanent. The intention is that the pilot scheme will start in October 2015, but this is subject to the DfT receiving regulatory clearance in time.