Select Committee on Transport Written Evidence

Supplementary memorandum by the Department for Transport (SAR 12B)

SEARCH AND RESCUE

DEMAND FOR SEARCH AND RESCUE (SAR) SERVICES

Official statistics

  Although there is much anecdotal evidence that the number of people involved in leisure pursuits around the UK coast (including high risk activities) is increasing (for example, the tourist boards provide some material which is a helpful indication of trends in this area), there are no reliable, comprehensive official statistics available. In 2004 The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) commissioned a research project to establish accident "rates" by comparing the number of accidents against the numbers of people participating in leisure activities in a variety of areas around the coast. This work will be completed in April 2005 and will provide a more robust measure of risk and monitoring trends within this non-regulated sector.

  The MCA also collects information about the trends in commercial shipping traffic around the UK coastline to enable them to determine the need for search and rescue resources both in terms of co-ordination and on the ground. For example, since the introduction in 1999 of mandatory ship reporting for ships using the Traffic Separation Scheme in the busy Dover Strait, the volume of reports increased by around 6%. Although this and other information is collected for other exercises, the introduction of the Automatic Identification System (the monitoring system being rolled out across the UK), will enable this data to be collected in a more systematic way in future.

Assessment of likely demand for maritime SAR

  SAR incident trends are monitored nationally and locally. In the past the Agency calculated demand for maritime SAR services using numbers of reports to HM Coastguard. Once the current work on statistics is completed, more information about populations and rates of deaths and injuries will be available, and can be taken into account to calculate demand and target resources more effectively.

  The MCA ensures that training is provided to ensure the appropriate levels of knowledge, skills and expertise are maintained to meet the projected demand. SAR resources and personnel are then matched with perceived SAR demand when planning watch levels.

Number of reports

  HM Coastguard Incident Reports since 1996:

Year	1996	1997	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004
Total Reports	11,291	11,667	11,553	12,220	12,016	12,514	13,395	13,849	14,240

Note:  HM Coastguard revised its statistical collection and collation procedures in 1998 so comparisons with previous years are difficult.

PAYMENT OF AUXILIARY COASTGUARDS AND RETAINED FIRE FIGHTERS

  Auxiliary coastguards are volunteers giving up their leisure/spare time. The firefighters working the Retained Duty System are not volunteers but are released by their main employer to undertake firefighting duties for which they are paid part-time.

  1.  Auxiliary Coastguards are paid the National Minimum Wage (£4.85 for those aged 22 and over, £4.10 for 18-21 years and £3.00 for 16-17 years) when activated for call-outs and when training. Each Auxiliary is paid for a minimum of three hours each time they are called out (even if the call-out is not that long) and paid per hour for each hour in excess of that. They are also paid travel and subsistence expenses. The Station Officers are paid on the same basis but at £5.82 per hour.

  2.  The pay rates from 1 July 2004 for firefighters in the Retained Duty System ing roles are:

	1	2	3	4
	£ per   annum	£ per   annum	£ per   annum	£ per occ
Firefighter
Trainee	1,876	938	8.56	3.28
Development	1,954	977	8.92	3.28
Competent	2,500	1,250	11.42	3.28
Crew Manager
Development	2,594	1,297	11.85	3.28
Competent	2,706	1,353	12.36	3.28
Watch Manager
Development	2,791	1,396	12.74	3.28
Competent A	2,868	1,434	13.10	3.28
Competent B	3,099	1,550	14.15	3.28
Station Manager
Development	3,224	1,612	14.72	3.28
Competent A	3,321	1,661	15.16	3.28
Competent B	3,556	1,778	16.24	3.28
Group Manager
Development	3,657	1,829	16.70	3.28
Competent A	3,767	1,884	17.20	3.28
Competent B	4,116	2,058	18.80	3.28
Area Manager
Development	4,303	2,217	19.65	3.28
Competent A	4,781	2,391	21.83	3.28

Column 1 shows the full annual retainer.

Column 2 shows the retainer for employees on the day crewing duty system.

Column 3 shows the hourly rate for work undertaken.

Column 4 shows the disturbance payment per call-out.

RESPONSIBILITY FOR BEACH LIFE GUARDING

  The Government would expect local authorities to act ethically with all local stakeholders. We encourage all public service bodies, via the Local Strategic Partnership to set up Compacts with Voluntary and Community Sector bodies. If people have concerns that an authority has acted outside its powers in managing their contracts, they can raise their concerns with the council's auditor. Allegations of misconduct against individual councillors can be made to the Standards Board for England, whose officers are responsible for investigating such allegations.

MOUNTAIN RESCUE USE OF BLUE LIGHTS

  The use of blue lights is carefully controlled to prevent excessive use and proliferation, as this would ultimately lead to the dilution of the impact of the lights. In general the use of blue lights is limited to life-saving emergency services, who need to make progress through traffic urgently. Under The Road Vehicle Lighting Regulations 1989 which regulate the users of blue lights, Mountain Rescue are not specifically listed as a permitted user. Any request by Mountain Rescue to be written into the legislation as such, would need very careful consideration.

  However, vehicles that are used for "Ambulance purposes", are allowed to use blue lights. It would be for a Court to decide whether Mountain Rescue vehicles were indeed used for "Ambulance purposes". In making their judgement the Court would probably consider whether Mountain Rescue followed practices similar to those of the NHS Ambulance Services with professional drivers that are fully trained in emergency driving, systems to prioritise call-outs as urgent or not, and dedicated liveried vehicles (as opposed to private cars). Classification as "Ambulance purposes" would also mean that (under various pieces of legislation) Mountain Rescue would be entitled to exceed speed limits when absolutely necessary, and would be entitled to other emergency vehicle privileges such as treating red traffic lights as a "give way" sign.

IRRECOVERABLE VAT

  For more than two decades, charities have been pressing successive governments to change the rules to reduce or reimburse them for their irrecoverable VAT bills, and no Government has considered the issue more seriously than this one. Twice, in the 1999 Treasury Review of Charity Taxation, and in the 2002 Cross Cutting Review of The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector in Service Delivery, we have conducted major reviews to see if we could find an efficient, affordable, principled solution to the problem of irrecoverable VAT.

  Through these reviews, we came to two conclusions: first, that it would not be an affordable or efficient use of public resources to reimburse all 250,000 charitable bodies in the UK for the VAT they incur, regardless of the activities they are involved in or their financial health, and which would cost between £500 million and £1 billion per year; and second, that there was no fair and principled basis on which we could decide that some charities would be reimbursed their VAT and some would not.

  However, we do recognise the valuable contribution voluntary groups and charities make in delivering services, and we provide £2.4 billion of tax relief to charities each year—including over £200m in relief's from VAT. This forms part of the total Government funding for the voluntary and community sector, which stands at £3.3 billion per year.

  The Government has to take difficult decisions in seeking to balance support for the charitable sector with ensuring that it has sufficient revenue to finance public services. We have decided it is better to give support to charities through these routes, rather than compensate them for their VAT costs.

  We are always interested in any ideas that charities may have if they feel that the existing level of support we provide could be delivered more fairly or effectively through different routes. We are also always interested to hear any ideas charities may have for making the tax system simpler for them, or if it is creating specific obstacles to the Government's partnership with the sector.

  It is a fundamental principle of VAT that tax incurred on purchases can only be recovered by VAT registered bodies if it relates to taxable business activities. This means that charities providing services for no charge, or providing services which are exempt from VAT, cannot recover the VAT they incur on purchases related to these services.

NAO AND COMMITTEE OF PUBLIC ACCOUNTS REPORTS ON CIVIL MARITIME SEARCH AND RESCUE

  In the seven years since the PAC hearing, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has introduced electronic capture of rescue co-ordination centre operational activities; the latest being IMS/Vision. This enables variations in activity and performance to be monitored. Service standards have also been introduced and improved. In particular, the 30 minute response time for coastal response teams is monitored on a monthly basis by local management and the Agency Executive Board. Currently the response time is met in over 98% of cases. Where the response is not met this can be the result of teams being called back. The number of incidents where the 30 minute service standard is not met, is recorded locally. These figures are analysed at district level to assess any local implications. A report on all incidents where the 30 minute standard is not met, is submitted to the Operations Directorate in MCA Headquarters. Where safety implications of wider significance for SAR response teams nationally are identified, these then inform future operational guidance and procedures.

March 2005

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Prepared 7 June 2005