§ Mr. CollinsTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport what estimate he has made of the risk to lives caused by the changes to a 60 minute limit on rescue times in medium to high risk areas. [81658]
§ Mr. JamiesonThe national criteria for UK Search and Rescue helicopters, which includes the response to incidents in medium to high risk areas was established by the UK Search and Rescue Operators Group under the aegis of the UK Search and Rescue Strategic Committee and implemented in April this year following the endorsement of Ministers. The operators group has experienced representatives from all UK Search and Rescue providers including the Department for Transport (DfT), Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), Ministry of Defence (MOD), Home Office, Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI), Police, Fire, Ambulance and Mountain Rescue, together with the Association of Lowland Search and Rescue, teams in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland. The group considered an operational analysis of the risk assessment which introduced the national criteria.