Swansea Coastguard

Debate between Martin Caton and Siân C. James

Monday 12th September 2011 Commons Chamber

[Martin Caton]

My hon. Friend makes a very valid point.

As I was saying, this was a ministerial decision. Sir Alan Massey, the chief executive of the agency, told us so when he came to Swansea. He said:

“Ministers have made this judgement based on employment and that's way above my pay grade!”

But that is not exactly what Ministers have done, is it? If Milford and Swansea had been exactly equal, and I believe I have demonstrated that they are clearly not, I suppose that it would have been reasonable to have taken into account comparative unemployment in the two catchment areas. If Ministers had done that, they would have established that unemployment in the Swansea area is worse than in the Milford area, but that is not what they did. Perversely, Ministers decided to look at how many Department for Transport jobs there are in each location.

[Mrs Siân C. James (Swansea East) (Lab)]

I am sure that my hon. Friend is aware of the suggestion that there might be too many Department for Transport jobs in Swansea. One implication in the Government’s proposal document was that there would be ample opportunity for coastguard employment in other areas, such as in the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

[Martin Caton]

My hon. Friend has a close association with the DVLA, and I know that she knows there is no overlap between its work and that of the coastguard.

So, the Government say that Milford Haven should have the coastguard. What nonsense. Any logical method of deciding the best sites for operational effectiveness appears to have been abandoned and replaced with that strange new criterion, which can only be described as arbitrary at best.

In responding, can the Minister please inform the House whether, when he and the Secretary of State decided to recommend closure of Swansea and retention of Milford Haven, they took into account the quality of road, rail and air communication; available population for recruitment purposes; the fact that Swansea is larger, more flexible, rent free and has a much better broadband link; the fact that the MCA regional business unit is co-located with the MRCC and a radio site in Swansea; and the fact that MRCC Milford Haven is close to a number of sites relating to COMAH—the Control of Major Accident Hazards Regulations 1999?

If the Minister’s answer to those questions is yes, that prompts the biggest question of all: in that case, how on earth could he and the Secretary of State have come to the recommendation that they did? I am sure that there will be much speculation about that in the weeks and months ahead, but I will not go down that road this evening. Rather, I appeal to the Minister to look at all these factors now and after the consultation period ends, take them all into account and give them their due weight. Maritime and coastal safety demands that we have the best network of maritime resource co-ordination centres that we can achieve, and logic demands that that includes Swansea.