Bridlington MP welcomes decision over Coastguard Rescue Officers volunteers

Speaking in Parliament on Thursday, July 16, Maritime Minister and MP for Selby, Keir Mather, said: “Plans to move to the expenses-only volunteer model in September will not go ahead, and current arrangements will remain in place.”

The decision follows a concerted campaign by CROs, members of parliament and the GMB to press the Government to pause the plan.

Mr Dewhirst said: “It is fantastic news for the Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre in Bridlington, and coastal communities across that country, that the Government has finally seen sense and postponed these damaging plans to rip the (modest) payments away from our incredible Coastguard Rescue Officers.

“After I made sure to raise this in Parliament last week, alongside many other coastal MPs similarly concerned about losing huge numbers of dedicated Coastguards, this pause is welcome.

“But the decision is only a pause – the Government’s engagement with Coastguard Rescue Officers over the coming months, in order to shape the future Coastguard Rescue Service model, will be crucial. They must get this right, lives in East Yorkshire and beyond are at stake.”

The Maritime and Coastguard Agency [MCA] will halt its plan which would see coastguard officers stripped of their hourly pay for attending incidents and training exercises.

It comes as more than half of the coastguards in Yorkshire and Humberside said they would be forced to reduce their hours or stop volunteering altogether if the scheme to make coastguards volunteers rather than paid workers went ahead.

It has been opposed by dozens of councils, unions, MPs, and members of the public.

Nicola Savage, GMB National Officer, said: “This is a richly deserved win for GMB’s coastguards, who took their campaign across the UK and into the corridors of power.

“It was a scandal that these brave, life-saving workers would have their pay cut. But Ministers have listened and done the right thing.”