IS THE MOD ENDANGERING PUBLIC SAFETY IN NORTH DEVON?
August 17, 2009 3:56 PM
"The Government announcement of a reduction in Search and Rescue operations in North Devon is premature," warns Nick Harvey MP. "Making these changes before issuing the private tender for SAR is clearly unhelpful, especially when the exact terms of the contract are still under negotiation."
Quentin Davies, Minister for Defence Equipment & Support, recently informed Nick, "Historical data shows that the level of incidents falls markedly from daytime peaks. We intend, therefore, to operate Portland (already daytime only), RAF Boulmer and RMB Chivenor on a 12 hour basis with the remaining bases operating 24 hours. This will enable us to meet, and indeed exceed previous incident levels at night time across the UK, when we transition to the new service from 2012."
"Following my discussions with Minister and his recent statement it remains unclear," adds Nick "whether the privatised helicopter service will be crewed by RAF, RN and Coastguard personnel despite the MoD's proposal that the contractor's helicopters bear their insignia.
"Beyond the vital public service provided by the MoD's SAR flights, they also provide invaluable training experience for service crews practicing extraction and insertion operations.
"My key concerns remain public safety and ensuring the skills of our armed forces pilots. Our night time cover will have to come from Culdrose in Cornwall which could result in life threatening delays."
Quentin Davies argues, "These modern helicopters will enable faster transit times to incidents enabling valuable reductions in response times around the UK."
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