§ 52. Mr. WigleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate of the number of service personnel whose duties include a significant role in mountain rescue work; and what is the estimate of the cost of maintaining this service.
§ Mr. FreemanVirtually all of the services' mountain rescue work is undertaken by the Royal Air Force, whose mountain rescue teams comprise 25 full-time personnel and a further 158 unpaid volunteers. In addition, a great deal of such work is carried out by the RAF's search and rescue (SAR) helicopter flights. All this activity is coordinated by the RAF's rescue co-ordination centres at Pitreavie and Plymouth. To separate out the MOD's SAR activity attributable to mountain rescue would involve disproportionate cost and effort.