Maritime and Coastguard Agency
Baroness Shephard of Northwold Excerpts(3 weeks ago)
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Baroness Shephard of Northwold (Con)
My Lords, it was a delightful surprise to find that there are two Lords Hendy in this House. Who knew? We are very familiar with the Minister’s skills. He will be aware that more than half of our coastguard rescue officers will leave this vital service if the Government continue on their present course. The Minister mentioned the magic word “September”. I ask him to reconsider that. We are now entering the peak risk period on our coasts, when our coastal waters are full of swimmers and sailors, and when the work of the coastguard rescue service is in peak demand. Do the Government plan to overturn the court decision on which all this stands? Given the risk, how soon should they do so? September is too late. The risk is now.
Lord Hendy of Richmond Hill (Lab)
There are at least two of us in here who knew that there were two Hendys in the House. Maybe that is common knowledge now.
The noble Baroness is right: September is not far away. I put in the present tense the fact that the Maritime Minister is considering this because it needs to be considered right now and for the reasons that the noble Baroness said. Whatever course of action he decides to take needs to be taken very quickly to avoid the service being in anyway affected and to ensure the safety of people on the coast and in the sea.