Dozens of coastal councils have called for a parliamentary inquiry into the Government’s plan to cut the pay of coastguard rescue officers.
Almost 60 coastal councils have backed the idea of an inquiry by the House of Commons Transport Select Committee into proposals which would see coastguard officers stripped of their hourly pay as part of a scheme to make coastguards volunteers rather than paid workers from later in the year.
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 over the plans, which have been opposed by unions, MPs, lawyers, and members of the public.
Cllr Derek Bastiman, the chair of a group of 58 coastal local authorities and a member of North Yorkshire Council, said the Government should “pause implementation of the proposed changes to allow further engagement and consideration of alternative models including full consideration of the application of the firefighter retention scheme for a coastguard rescue officer (CRO) context”.
In a letter to Keir Mather, the Maritime Minister and MP for Selby, Cllr Bastiman noted: “Coastal local authorities recognise the invaluable contribution made by the approximately 3,500 coastguard rescue officers who provide frontline emergency response services in communities around the United Kingdom.
“CROs are the fourth emergency service and should be treated as such – government must not just rely on charities to maintain a statutory rescue service.”
The scheme to change the status of coastguards follows a Court of Appeal ruling, which confirmed that people who had been serving as coastguard rescue officers have been doing so as workers, rather than volunteers.
Subsequently, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) decided to stop the payments from September, in order to start legally classing CROs as volunteers.
Cllr Bastiman, who is chairman of the LGA’s Coastal Special Interest Group, said he was representing the “views and concerns of the communities” of the dozens of member councils.
He urged Mr Mather to “undertake meaningful consultation with serving coastguard rescue officers, elected representatives and coastal stakeholders and to publish the assessment of the potential operational impacts on recruitment, retention and emergency response capability before implementation – after implementation ot will simply be too late.”
The councillor, who represents Scalby and the Coast on North Yorkshire Council, warned that failure to “remove those who are pushing a heavy-handed approach” could lead to a “scandal”.
“Work with parliament, local authorities and representative bodies to explore options that maintain flexibility whilst recognising the exceptional contribution that CROs make to the safety of our coastal communities, remembering that any changes will have impacts across services,” he added.
A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said last week: “The decision to move the Coastguard Rescue Service to a revised volunteer model follows a legal judgment, which meant we needed to change how the service operates.”
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), they added: “We deeply value and recognise the significant service Coastguard Rescue Officers provide along our coastline and we will continue to work towards a model that supports our Coastguards and helps to keep the public safe.”
The MCA has said its current model did account for CROs having worker status and that it had a legal requirement to make changes.
However, a cross-party group of coastal MPs and senior employment lawyers have cast doubt on that assertion.
Joe Robertson, the Conservative MP for Isle of Wight East, said: “The government and MCA must stop peddling this line. It is simply not true.
“The court found that CROs are already workers, which is hardly surprising considering they get hourly pay and payslips.
“The very fact the MCA is working through backdated tax liabilities and backdated pay is an admission that CROs have been workers for some time and the MCA has been in breach of certain obligations.
“It is the MCA which has now decided to change the CRO’s worker status since the court’s judgement.”
