Emergency services / ‘Exceptional news’ – delight as controversial coastguard changes scrapped
COASTGUARD response times at Sumburgh will not be changed, the UK government has announced.
A controversial and hugely unpopular proposal to move to a 60 minute readiness response for the Sumburgh search and rescue helicopter crew has now been scrapped.
Aviation and maritime minister Mike Kane MP announced an agreement had been reached with helicopter company Bristow to ensure the readiness times remained the same.
Crews will aim to respond to call-outs within 15 minutes during the day, and 45 minutes at night – as has been the case for years.
The news came during a parliamentary debate about coastguard services, led by Orkney and Shetland’s MP Alistair Carmichael on Tuesday afternoon.
He called the news “exceptionally welcome”, and said it was “just exactly what we wanted”.
“I never doubted that we would win eventually,” he added.
Earlier in the debate Carmichael had pointed out that the news of the proposed 60 minute readiness change had only come to the public’s attention after being leaked by a Bristow whistleblower.
He also referred to a Shetland News story last week about the Sumburgh helicopter’s call-outs as an air ambulance, saying he was “increasingly concerned” about the “extended” use.
Reacting after the debate, Carmichael called the victory “a win for islanders, by islanders”.
“If it had not been for the actions of whistleblowers and local journalists to bring these plans to light as early as they did, we might have been faced with a ‘done deal’ and no way to reverse it,” he said.
“As it is, we have shown the difference that can be made by acting fast and refusing to back down on the services that really matter to us.
“It would be nice, of course, if the fight to protect the helicopter service had not been necessary in the first place.
“The lesson for the government – which should be kept in mind when they consider the future of other services such as the emergency tug in the isles – is that such arguments are not worth having.
“We should not be forced to fight to protect these basic services – but if we have to, we will.”
The then-Tory government pledged a review of the 60-minute proposal in late 2023, which due to be published by the end of 2024.
However Kane said he was certain all parties would be “delighted” to hear an agreement had been reached to ensure no changes were now made.
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