Government drops plans to stop paying Coastguard volunteers

Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Under the current system, Coastguard volunteers receive a fee of at least £33 for emergency call-outs Published 1 hour ago Plans to stop paying coastguard volunteers for their time on call-outs and training have been dropped after some threatened to quit over the move . UK government transport minister Keir Mather said he had listened to the views of coastguard rescue officers (CROs), and now a move to an expenses-only model would not go ahead. The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) had originally said it needed to "change how the service operates" after a court classed responders as "workers" while they were carrying out their duties. The minister said the government would explore options for how the volunteers could be rightfully rewarded and have the flexibility to serve their communities. Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Coastguard teams carry out rescues around the UK's coast CROs make up the bulk of the Coastguard Rescue Service (CRS), the volunteer arm of HM Coastguard. There are more than 3,500 of them who carry out rescues around the UK's coast, including those stuck in mud, water and on cliffs, as well as assisting in searches for missing people. They are officially classed as volunteers, but can claim about £11 per hour for responding to callouts or undertaking training exercises. A minimum payment equivalent to three hours – about £33 – can be claimed even if in an incident is resolved before that. However, the MCA wanted to remove that payment later this year after a judgement from the Court of Appeal in January. It ruled that while CROs were described as "volunteers", a contract came into existence whenever they attended callouts or training sessions for which they had a right to claim payment. In response, the MCA said it would move to the "revised volunteer model". Image source, Getty Images Image caption, Coastguard responders helped evacuate people from homes in Brechin, Angus, during Storm Babet in 2023 After announcing the move, the government was warned that a survey carried out by the MCA showed the coastguard would be devastated if the move to a sole-volunteer model went ahead. It showed that at least a quarter of all volunteers would quit or reduce their hours across the UK, rising to as high as 56% in the South East and southern England regions. In response to questions in the Commons, Mather said: "The MCA and His Majesty's Coastguard do vital work and ministers have full confidence in the service, but when those on the ground raise concerns of the scale that we've seen and when the evidence base proves insufficient, it's absolutely right that we pause and that we engage again. "That is exactly what taking this decision to not move ahead with the new model in September facilitates, to ensure that we treat CROs with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and most importantly get this system right." Image source, BBC/Dale Baxter Image caption, CROs have simila