Coastguards consult over reforms
HM Coastguard Dover MRCC will remain a 24/7 manned centre. Photo by Peter Barker.
The UK Maritime and Coastguard Agency has published a consultation document providing background to the proposed changes to the coastguard service.
The document follows the announcement of spending cuts of 15% by the Department for Transport.
In the foreword Mike Penning, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Transport says, ‘We know that change is often difficult, and rarely popular. Maybe that is why successive governments and shipping ministers have ducked the question of reform. But in doing so, they have held back the coastguard.’
He points out that much of its computer and radio equipment is outdated, while coastguard officers themselves now come from a variety of backgrounds rather than the traditional image of seasoned mariners scanning the horizon with powerful binoculars. Vice-Admiral Sir Alan Massey, MCA chief executive, describes how changes in the maritime world including the UK’s busier coastline have led to changing demands on the service, a theme running through the document.
The eighteen existing Maritime Rescue Coordination Centres (MRCCs) in the UK plus a small centre in London are each paired with their neighbour, providing a degree of redundancy, but are not interoperable beyond each pairing, meaning a lack of resilience and the inability to spread workloads during what may be a busy period in one area but quiet in another. The proposal to reduce the number of MRCCs to two permanently manned nationally networked centres plus six sub-centres manned during daylight hours only would, it is suggested, allow a more customised service based on daily and seasonal demands. The MRCC at Dover would remain a 24/7 manned centre.
Overall staff numbers would fall from 596 today to 370 over a four year period, with those remaining being higher quality better paid jobs it is claimed. The management structure of the volunteers of the Coastguard Rescue Service would be strengthened, including increasing from 80 to 105 the number of regular coastguards managing the teams on the coast.
The consultation provides the opportunity for comments and suggestions from those within the maritime community and the wider public in general and runs until 24 March 2011. Copies of the document along with details of how to respond are provided on the MCA’s website www.mcga.gov.uk
By Peter Barker
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