𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Coastguard rescue officers have raised fears over the impact of a planned pay cut to the life-saving service. They are currently paid £11-an-hour for callouts at any time of the day or night to help people in difficulty in the sea, cliffs and coastline.

But the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) plans to stop the payments following a Court of Appeal ruling that deemed them to be workers rather than volunteers, meaning they would be entitled to more rights, and they will instead be moved to a new volunteer model.

Dr Kelly Stockdale, from Eyemouth, who has been a coastguard rescue officer for two years, warned the move could put lives at risk.

She said: “We’re really worried that there hasn’t been a full risk assessment so they’re unsure what the actual impact will be.

“What we do know is that for many coastguard rescue officers they will be unable to continue if the proposals do go ahead.

“To take away remuneration and the impact that would have effectively you’re asking people to do this work completely voluntarily without any payment whatsoever.

“For people who are leaving their homes, their beds, their families, leaving their work to go and do this work, that becomes less feasible when there is no remuneration offered.

“It’s a small amount of remuneration, we don’t do it for the money, but the money is what enables us to do it so without that enabler we will really struggle.”

She said that any loss to the team would have a “real big impact”, adding: “Because we work as a team it’s that combined knowledge of everyone in the team.

“We’ve got some people who have worked in that role for over 20 years who really know that area.

“Their local knowledge is the thing we rely on that keeps us safe and allows us to do our job.

“If someone is calling for help we want to be there as quickly as possible. The sea doesn’t wait for people, the tide is still coming in, any delay for neighbouring teams to have to come to fill those spaces that would be too long of a wait.”

Dr Stockdale was among campaigners who descended on Parliament on Wednesday to protest against the change.

Tory MP Joe Robertson argued that coastguard rescue officers should be paid “properly” for their vital work.

He said: “This is a service that saves lives. Now if you threaten that service by reducing the number of people who work in it, then the obvious conclusion is lives will be put at risk.”

A Maritime and Coastguard Agency spokesperson said: “After careful consideration, we are moving the Coastguard Rescue Service to a revised volunteer model, to best protect the future of the service.

“This decision follows a legal judgment, which means we need to change how the service operates. This is not something we wanted to do but is a consequence of the Court of Appeal ruling. This new model protects choice, flexibility and the ability for people to volunteer alongside their primary employment.

“We deeply value and recognise the significant service Coastguard Rescue Officers provide along our coastline, and we will be supporting them during this transition. The Coastguard Rescue Service will continue to maintain a robust, effective search and rescue response, ensuring the highest quality of service and levels of safety.”