Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in the context of the (a) Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s decision to cease paying volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers for their time and (b) financial costs associated with providing this voluntary service, what steps her Department is taking to help mitigate the financial impacts on volunteers of providing this service.

Plans to move the Coastguard Rescue Service to an expenses-only volunteer model in September will not go ahead, and current arrangements will remain in place. We will now take time to gather the robust information required to understand the full operational implications of future decisions, as well as the impact on individual Coastguard Rescue Officers and the choices they will make. This will involve engaging with CROs directly and ensuring that their views inform the decisions that we will take on the shape of the Coastguard Rescue Service.

Serving CROs are entitled to compensation for up to the previous six years of service, in line with the Court of Appeal judgment regarding worker status. The MCA will calculate each person’s entitlement and contact individuals.