A proposed cull of Coastguard bases, which would see the Fife Ness station axed, has been branded seriously flawed by a group of MPs.
Recommending plans to slash the number of maritime rescue co-ordination centres are withdrawn, the House of Commons transport committee said safety would otherwise be jeopardised.
The government’s Maritime and Coastguard Agency intends to close 10 of the country’s 18 round-the-clock stations and reduce five to daylight hours only. In Scotland, this would leave one 24-hour station in Aberdeen and a part-time station in Shetland or Stornoway.
The committee’s report was welcomed in Fife, where it is feared the closure of the station at Fife Ness will place people at danger.
Urging the government to think again, North East Fife MP Sir Menzies Campbell said, “This report comes as no surprise since the government’s proposals for the coastguard service have attracted virtually no support and a great deal of anxiety amongst MPs.
“The possible closure of Fife Ness would mean the loss of local knowledge and the well-established relations between the station and other emergency services.
“There is a considerable increase in both commercial and leisure traffic in the Forth, and this is particularly relevant to the East Neuk and the efforts to attract yachts to Anstruther and other ports.
“The fishing industry based in Pittenweem is entitled to look to Fife Ness for the security which it requires on a daily basis.”
MSP Rod Campbell, said, “The proposals from the UK Government have been a matter of great concern, and the transport committee members are right to highlight their concerns.’A matter of life and death'”I understand that Fife Ness coastguard station has responded to 1400 incidents in the past three years. This demonstrates that the future of the coastguard is quite literally a matter of life and death, and any development that highlights the deficiencies in the Lib-Con coalition’s plans for cuts to the service is very welcome.”
Transport committee chairwoman Louise Ellman said, “We accept there is a need for some modernisation, but the government’s proposals for the future of the coastguard service are seriously flawed.”
She added, “A drastic reduction in the number of rescue co-ordination centres will result in a loss of local knowledge amongst coastguard officers who are responsible for taking calls from people and vessels in distress.
“The committee is not convinced by the government’s claim that technology can, at present, replace such local knowledge.”
While conceding that there was a case for reducing the number of centres, the committee said future reorganisation should be based on 24-hour centres and not stations open during daylight hours only.
It also condemned the decision to withdraw funding for four emergency towing vessels.
It criticised proposals to remove funding for the Maritime Incident Response Group and voiced disappointment that the minister for shipping Mike Penning instructed coastguard officers not to give oral evidence to the committee.