RNLI and Independent Lifeboats: Covid-19

Paul Holmes Excerpts

Tuesday 13th October 2020 Westminster Hall

[Paul Holmes (Eastleigh) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Hosie, and to speak in a debate secured by my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes (Anthony Mangnall), who is a doughty champion for his constituency, as we have seen this afternoon. I welcome this debate.

I want briefly to raise awareness of Hamble independent lifeboat station in my constituency. Like lifeboat stations in all coastal constituencies, it provides a vital service to constituents. It celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2018. It is based on the river Hamble, which has some of the most difficult navigational circumstances, due to the tides and channels. It serves a major yachting area and the entrance of the UK’s busiest waterway—Southampton Water and the Solent.

In 2019, the RNLI saved 220 lives and aided an average of 26 people a day. My local crew aided people in 100 incidents last year. On average, Hamble has three times more lifeboat launches than any other lifeboat station in the UK. We saw the good work that it does in August when, unfortunately, Emily Lewis, who was 15 years old, suffered a tragic boating accident in the Solent. Our heartfelt condolences should be sent to her family.

I pay tribute to the work that independent lifeboat stations and the RNLI do across the UK voluntarily on behalf of our communities and residents. I want to make two brief points—you will be glad to hear, Mr Hosie, that I will not take up the full five minutes. It is concerning that, in the current pandemic, independent lifeboat stations are facing a triple whammy of difficulty. As hon. Members on both sides of the Chamber have mentioned, fundraising efforts have been hampered by the pandemic. As my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes said, the RNLI has seen a 20% reduction in its income, but independent lifeboat stations have seen much more of a reduction than the RNLI. Hamble lifeboat station is no different: its fundraising efforts for most of 2020 have been completely hampered, and its income has reduced.

That has been exacerbated by the Government’s stopping of the inshore grant and by a lack of clarity about the rescue boat grant fund, which they have been asked to continue and reintroduce next year. The amount of money given to independent lifeboat stations across the country was not enough to help them cope with the impact of the pandemic on their operations. Operations have had to continue during the past year, but with generally reduced income. With the same number of incidents happening on the Solent and across the UK, the RNLI and independent lifeboat stations have had to deal with an awful lot. The Government have rightly put their hands in their pockets to help the emergency services, but more needs to be done to assist independent lifeboat stations across the UK.

My hon. Friend the Member for Totnes mentioned PPE. It is not desirable that the associated costs—especially high at the beginning of the pandemic—have not been covered by the Government. I therefore have two main asks. First, will the Minister work with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to come to an arrangement whereby equipment can be provided by local authorities, but claimed back as an additional cost due to covid, as we have seen in other areas of the UK, where local authorities can reclaim from central Government any extra expenditure they have faced owing to the pandemic? Will the Minister, as other hon. Members have asked, also accept that the grant my hon. Friend the Member for Totnes mentioned needs to be reintroduced?

On both sides of the House today we have heard examples of how lifeboat stations work tirelessly for our communities and our residents on a voluntary basis. Given what we have heard and what we will hear across the House, the time has come to reward such selflessness and bravery with a little more help as we face the pandemic going forward.