§ 50. Mr. James Johnsonasked the President of the Board of Trade, if he will make a statement about the Report of the Committee set up to review the Marine Search and Rescue Organisation of the United Kingdom.
§ Mr. Goronwy Roberts:I apologise for the length of the reply.
The Report of the Committee to review the Marine Search and Rescue Organisation of the United Kingdom has now been published and copies can be obtained from the Vote Office.
The Committee came to the general conclusion that the arrangements for marine search and rescue in the United Kingdom work well, and they make no recommendations for major changes. However they make a number of valuable recommendations for the improvement of radio-communications, for increased publicity for the Coastguard Service, and for the continuation of experimental work being undertaken on the use of shore-based direction finding equipment and radar. We are examining these in detail.
Following the withdrawal of the unit at Manston, the Committee were asked to look particularly at the need for helicopters. They recommend that the Government should examine the possibility of making civil funds available for the operation of helicopters for marine search and rescue in areas where there is inadequate coverage by military helicopters. We consider that this problem 314W needs further study before a decision can be taken. We have therefore arranged for a comprehensive analysis to be undertaken by a firm of consultants to supplement the work of the Department.