Coastguard
stations will be better coordinated and more resilient to the
challenges of the coming decades under updated modernisation
proposals announced today by Transport Secretary Philip Hammond.
The Coastguard has been helping to manage our seas and protect
those who use them for over two centuries. However, the service
has undergone few changes over the past forty years and is now in
need of modernisation as the current structure is not sufficiently
resilient and fluctuating workloads cannot be properly
distributed. The Government launched a consultation in December
2010 on modernisation proposals designed to address these issues
and provide enhanced career opportunities for Coastguard officers.
There were a total of over 1,800 responses to the consultation
and while these reflected a general acceptance that change and
modernisation is necessary, they also expressed concerns over a
potential loss of local knowledge and a perceived weakening of
operational relationships. The Government's updated
proposals reflect these responses and propose creating a
nationally networked system of Coastguard stations comprising:
one Maritime Operations Centre in the Southampton/Portsmouth
area with a back-up facility at the existing Dover site which will
be retained as a 24 hour centre; and eight sub-centres, all
operated on a 24 hour basis, located at Falmouth, Milford Haven,
Holyhead, Belfast, Stornoway, Shetland, Aberdeen and Humber. The
small station at London is also retained.
Previously the Government had proposed establishing two Maritime
Operations Centres (in the Southampton/Portsmouth area &
Aberdeen) and five sub-centres, operating in daylight hours only,
as well as retaining the 24 hour centre at Dover which oversees
English Channel activity.
Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said:
"We have been clear that modernisation is required to
deliver a resilent Coastguard service, fit for the 21 st century.
But we have always been open to debate about how that should be
achieved. This has been a genuine consultation that has seen a
high level of engagement and many well-thought out responses -
including specific alternative proposals. It is clear from the
responses that there is huge public and political admiration for
the work of our Coastguard, a clear consensus that change and
modernisation is necessary, but also some specific concerns about
the original proposals.
"Our updated proposals will ensure the safety of
seafarers and coastal communities, delivering the modernised and
more cost-effective service we need for the 21 st century, while
also responding to the concerns raised during the consultation process."
Under existing arrangements, neighbouring stations are
'paired', allowing them to provide back-up to
one another when needed. Today's announcement means that
one station in each pair is retained.
Under today's proposals the Coastguard stations at
Clyde, Forth, Portland, Liverpool, Yarmouth, Brixham, Thames and
Swansea would close progressively over the period 2012 to 2014/15.
The station at Solent will be replaced by a new Maritime
Operations Centre in the Portsmouth/Southampton area.
There will now be the opportunity for people to comment on those
elements of today's announcement which differ from the
original proposals. These will be the subject of a further period
of consultation, which will run for twelve weeks ending on 6
October 2011.
Notes to Editors
1. Detail of today decisions In detail, the Government has
concluded: · That it is right to continue with proposals for a
nationally networked system with the introduction of one Maritime
Operations Centre (MOC) capable of managing incidents anywhere and
ensuring optimum distribution of workload across the system. ·
That establishing one MOC, rather than the two previously
proposed, allows us to address concerns over local knowledge and
the robustness of the future concept of operations by retaining
one of each of the current 'paired' stations
with the retained centres operating as part of the nationally
networked system 24 hours a day rather than during daytime only –
staff in each of the current ‘pair’ of stations are already
familiar with, and frequently exercise, taking calls and managing
incidents in an adjacent area. · That the Northern Ireland
Coastguard centre at Bangor should be retained because of the
specific requirement to manage the civil contingency arrangements
unique to Northern Ireland and the relationship with search and
rescue partners in the Irish Republic with whom we coordinate
closely in air sea rescues in the waters around Ireland. · That,
in light of the decision to retain one station from each pair, and
concerns about Welsh language communication, the Holyhead station,
rather than the one at Liverpool should be retained. · That, in
response to concerns expressed over the resilience of
infrastructure and communication links within the Scottish Islands
and with the Scottish mainland, Coastguard centres in both
Stornoway and Shetland should be retained. · That, in the light of
a further review of the potential costs of vacating the existing
sites in Swansea and Milford Haven which has shown that there are
no financial reasons to favour either location, and in view of the
Department’s substantial levels of employment in Swansea, the
coastguard centre at Milford Haven rather than the centre at
Swansea should be retained. 2. A review of all the responses to
the consultation launched in December 2010 has been produced under
the leadership of a Non-Executive Director of the MCA, involving a
number of serving coastguard officers and members of the PCS
union. This has been placed in the Library of the House of Commons
and can be found on the Maritime and Coastguard website. 3. The
consultation document on the updated proposals may be found at the
Maritime and Coastguard Agency website at www.mcga.gov.uk. Press
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