HC Deb 25 November 1971 vol 826 cc1520-2
5. Mr. Pardoe

asked the Minister of State for Defence if he will make a statement about the withdrawal of helicopters from Royal Air Force, Chivenor.

The Under-Secretary of State for Deference for the Royal Air Force (Mr. Antony Lambton)

The helicopter detachment at Royal Air Force, Chivenor, will be transferred to Brawdy when the Tactical Weapons Unit redeploys there from Chivenor in spring,1973.

Mr. Pardoe

As one who had cause to be personally grateful this summer for fixed-wing aircraft and Royal Navy helicopters, may I ask the hon. Gentleman whether he is aware that they can never fully compensate for the loss of R.A.F. helicopters at 15-minute readiness? Is he also aware that up to the end of August this year the Chivenor helicopters were called out no less than 135 times and lifted 87 people, and that unless they are either kept there or replaced by civilian search and rescue operations with helicopters in readiness, hundreds of people's lives will be at risk?

Mr. Lambton

I understand the hon. Gentleman's concern about this matter but he should understand that my position is to ensure that rescue services are provided for R.A.F. aircraft. The question of whether anything else is provided at Chivenor is a matter for my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Trade and Industry.

Mr. Nicholas Edwards

Is my hon. Friend aware that the arrival of these helicopters at Brawdy in my constituency will be widely welcomed in Pembrokeshire and the whole of the South and West Wales tourist belt? Does not this question emphasise the need for a national rescue service covering the entire coastal area?

Dr. David Owen

Surely the House will agree that the Ministry of Defence has a social responsibility in these matters, even though the cost may have to be borne by the Department of Trade and Industry. Will not the hon. Gentleman look at this as a Government problem and bring forward proposals for this dangerous coastline, including an adequate helicopter service, which cannot be adequately done from Brawdy?

Mr. Lambton

I repeat that I understand the point and the hon. Gentleman's concern and what my individual responsibility is in this case.

Rear-Admiral Morgan-Giles

Will my hon. Friend give an assurance that he will keep in close touch with the National Search and Rescue Committee on the matter, so that we do not get the absurd situation of Service helicopters and aircraft being moved away with the committee shortly afterwards recommending that they should be replaced?

Mr. Lambton

Certainly, Sir.

Mr. Thorpe

Although R.A.F. Chivenor falls within my constituency, within a wide radius, stretching from South Wales right through Cornwall, there is great appreciation and gratitude to the R.A.F. for the work it does. Is the hon. Gentleman aware that many South Wales councils feel that Brawdy would not be an adequate substitute as a rescue service because Chivenor is regarded as being very much more central for the area involved? If it is necessary for a civilian service to be substituted, in the way it has been, on an experimental basis, at R.A.F. Manston—which I visited last Sunday—will the hon. Gentleman undertake that his Department will give all the help and co-operation it can to the Department of Trade and Industry and the Home Office? It seems at the moment that three Departments are pulling in rather different directions.

Mr. Lambton

I quite understand the right hon. Member's concern over this matter and thank him for the gratitude he has expressed to the R.A.F. Certainly we shall take fully into consideration everything that can help in this matter.