§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport (1) what estimate he has made of the reduction in the number of full-time coastguard officer posts from the implementation of "Focus for Change"; [39379]
(2) what accommodation facilities are provided for the crew of the helicopter search and rescue centre at Portland; and if the crew are accommodated overnight; [39370]
(3) how many (a) coastguard officers and (b) auxiliary coastguards were employed at each coastguard station in each of the last five years; [39480]
369W(4) if he will list by coastguard station the number of false alarms received by the global maritime distress safety system for each of the last 12 months; and what action he intends to take to reduce the number; [39372]
(5) what training is (a) required for coastguard officers and (b) provided to auxiliary coastguards before they take up their post; [39476]
(6) if he will list for each of the last 12 months, by coastguard station, the dates when the station was staffed below the recognised minimum staffing level and by how many staff the station was understaffed; [39357]
(7) what assessment he has made of the savings to (a) the Coastguard agency and (b) his Department from implementation of the focus for change report into the Coastguard agency; [39477]
(8) what estimate he has made of the effect on the take off times of search and rescue helicopters at Portland of the crew not being based at the search and rescue centre. [39371]
§ Mr. BowisI have asked the chief executive of the Coastguard agency to write to the hon. Member.
Letter from C. J. Harris to Mrs. Gwyneth Dunwoody, dated 24 July 1996:
The Secretary of State for Transport has asked me to reply to a number of your recent Questions which are primarily matters for the Coastguard Agency.PQ 39379
Focus for Change will, in fact, result in a net increase of approximately eight full time posts.PQ 39370
The accommodation provided at the Coastguard helicopter unit at Portland consists of four modern portakabins comprising: kitchen; rest room (TV/Radio etc.); operations room; Senior Pilots office; Chief Engineers office; storage space for personal effects (flying suits/helmets etc.); aircraft Hangar; car parking spaces. The crew are not accommodated overnight.PQ 39480
The number of Coastguard Officers employed by the Department of Transport and subsequently by the Coastguard Agency in the last five years are given below. The figures up to April 1993, pre-Agency, are only available on a Regional basis.
Region 1 April 1992 1 April 1993 Dover 81 80 Falmouth 66 68 Swansea 92 89 Clyde 79 76
370W
INMARSAT 121.5MHz 243MHz 406MHz MFDSC Monthly total July 1995 31 8 10 31 7 87 August 1995 38 13 9 25 2 87 September 1995 26 10 2 28 8 74 October 1995 50 8 8 22 13 101 November 1995 42 22 8 16 7 95 December 1995 29 8 6 18 16 77 January 1996 24 14 6 24 10 78 February 1996 29 13 3 23 15 83 March 1996 32 6 2 23 16 79 April 1996 29 6 4 22 10 71 May 1996 38 7 4 20 6 75 June 1996 48 15 3 19 1 86 Totals 416 130 65 271 111 993
Region 1 April 1992 1 April 1993 Aberdeen 86 82 Yarmouth 62 64 Total 466 459 The figures for the next three years are available on a station by station basis.
Station (MRSC) 1 April 1994 1 April 1995 1 April 1996 Dover 31 29 27 Thames 21 18 20 Solent 27 25 23 Portland 21 20 21 Brixham 21 18 19 Falmouth 25 25 25 Swansea 25 25 24 Milford Haven 18 19 19 Holyhead 19 17 17 Liverpool 22 21 19 Clyde 19 19 19 Oban 16 17 16 Belfast 17 18 19 Stornoway 16 17 18 Pentland 18 16 17 Shetland 15 16 16 Aberdeen 29 25 28 Forth 19 17 18 Tyne Tees 20 19 19 Humber 23 22 21 Yarmouth 22 22 21 Total 444 425 426
Figures for the regional coastguard stations Station (MRCC) 1 April 1994 1 April 1995 1 April 1996 Dover 2 2 2 Falmouth 2 2 2 Swansea 2 3 2 Clyde 2 2 1 Aberdeen 2 2 2 Yarmouth 2 2 2 Total 12 13 11 These figures include Regional and Deputy Regional Controllers only. The Agency does not employ any Auxiliary Coastguards, they are all volunteers.
PQ 39372
All GMDSS alerts received via INMARSAT, 121.5MHz, 243MHz and 406MHz are processed by the Coastguard Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Falmouth. GMDSS alerts received via Medium Frequency Digital Selective Calling (MF DSC) may be picked up simultaneously by several stations. In order to ensure there is no duplication of alerts, MRCC Falmouth collate the alerts (including false alarms) from the 8 other MF DSC stations around the UK. The number of false alerts received in the last 12 months are as follows:371WThe Marine Safety Agency (MSA) are taking a number of measures to reduce the number of false alerts on GMDSS. These include:issuing an Merchant Shipping Notice detailing the measures to prevent false alerts and making it widely available to the marine community;contributing to the examiners panel for operator examinations and introducing the topic of preventing false alarms into the examination syllabus;taking an active role in the International Standardisation bodies which produce equipment specifications for marine radio and have introduced improved requirements to make the equipment more foolproof. MSA have also contributed to a national specification for a leisure market GMDSS radio which is based on simple, foolproof operation.PQ 39476
All new entrant Coastguards undertake an initial training lasting approximately one year. After a short familiarisation period (usually six to eight weeks) at their parent station, they undertake six weeks intensive training at the Coastguard Training Centre. They then return to their parent station for about nine months, during which time, under the guidance of the District Management Team, they work through a taskbook compiled by the Training Centre. They return to the Training Centre for a two week revision and examination period at the end of the year. Subject to successful completion of the taskbook, the exams, an interview board and management reports, they are appointed Coastguard Watch Officers.Auxiliary Coastguard Operations Room Assistants receive up to 80 hours initial training locally during which time they are supernumery to the normal staff. They are required to pass examinations before being allowed to become a part of the watch. They receive 20 hours refresher training per annum thereafter.PQ 39357
The information relating to dates when Coastguard stations were staffed below the recognised minimum staffing level is not readily available and will take time to compile. I will write separately when it is available.PQ 39477
The financial effect of the introduction of Focus for Change will result in an overall reduction in costs as a result of more flexible shift patterns and reductions in overtime and payments to auxiliaries.PQ 39371
The Portland SAR helicopter is on 15 minutes notice throughout the day, during which time the duty crew are permanently on station. There is no effect on take off times.
§ Mrs. DunwoodyTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what proposals he has for the contracting out of Coastguard services. [39479]
§ Mr. BowisCoastguard has already contracted out much of its support services and its chief executive is considering the possibility of contracting out aspects of the agency's training services.