§ Mr. Barry FieldTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will make a statement about search and rescue helicopter coverage in the Solent area.
§ Mr. ChannonAt present, daytime search and rescue helicopter coverage in the Solent and central English Channel area is provided by Royal Navy helicopters based at Lee-on-Solent. My right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Defence has been reviewing the deployment of Royal Navy and Royal Air Force search and rescue helicopters around the coast: full details of the new deployments will be announced shortly, but they will involve the withdrawal of the Royal Navy Wessex flight from Lee-on-Solent and its replacement by a Royal Navy Sea King flight at Portland. In addition, the deployment 79W of military aircraft at other bases will be adjusted to provide significantly better overall coverage in the English Channel—especially at night and in bad weather. The new military deployments will meet virtually all my normal requirements for civilian SAR coverage, but in view of the exceptional volume of shipping and air activity in the area I have decided to supplement the military service by inviting tenders for the provision of a civil search and rescue helicopter, probably based at Lee-on-Solent. The RAF will temporarily station one of its helicopters at Lee in the intervening period.