Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to remove or reduce the fee incurred when paying vehicle excise duty via credit card.
Answered by Andrew Jones
The fee charged when paying vehicle excise duty (VED) by credit card is to meet the costs of processing credit card payments. The fee is provided for in the Road Vehicles (Payment of Duty by Credit Card) (Prescribed Fee) Regulations 2005. The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) must comply with HM Treasury’s “Managing Public Money” guidance and recover costs from those who use its services.
The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) regularly reviews all the fees and charges it makes for the services it provides, including the fee incurred when paying vehicle excise duty (VED) using a credit card. Paying VED using a debit card is free of charge. Customers can also pay for VED by cash, cheque or debit card at a Post Office® and direct debit is now offered as an additional way for people to pay their VED.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which coastguard stations cover the Firth of Forth.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The operational concepts and procedures that underpin HM Coastguards National Network mean that the Coastguard Centres within it no longer have fixed geographic boundaries. The network enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast. Workload managed on a national basis enabling national capability and resource to be available to any incident, for example in the Firth of Forth, on the basis of the nature of the incident.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how his Department measures the performance of the coastguard.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Her Majesty’s Coastguard undertake an annual programme of Operational Standards Reviews to measure the quality, consistency and effectiveness of operational service delivery.
Additionally HM Coastguard routinely review at least 5% of incidents to which their National Network has responded to assess the effectiveness of outcomes and learn any appropriate lessons for future operations.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the coastguard search and rescue capability for the Firth of Forth is.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
HM Coastguard search and rescue capability consists of the tasking and coordination of rescue resources, the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service (CRS) and the provision of Search and Rescue Helicopters.
Tasking and Coordination of Rescue Assets
HM Coastguards ‘National Network’ enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast. Workload is therefore managed on a national basis enabling national capability and resource to be available to any incident, for example in the Firth of Forth, on the basis of the nature of the incident.
Volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service
There are 4 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) covering the Firth of Forth with the following operational capabilities.
CRT | Water Safety and Rescue | Land Search | Mud Rescue | Rope Rescue | First Aid |
Leven | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
Kinghorn | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
South Queensferry | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
Fisherrow | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
North Berwick | ✓ | ✓ |
| ✓ | ✓ |
Additionally there are 5 full time Maritime Coastguard Agency employees who are responsible for the management, training and oversight of these teams.
Search and Rescue Helicopters
The Search and Rescue Helicopters based at Inverness and Prestwick provide capability for the Firth of Forth. However, it should be noted that the speed and range of the aircraft located at the four HM Coastguard bases in Scotland means that HM Coastguard has the ability to surge up to five SAR helicopters to a single incident in Scotland, should it be necessary to do so.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what coastguard personnel responded to the incident off Portobello beach in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The Coastguard Rescue Teams (CRT) from Fisherrow and Queensferry were tasked to respond to the incident off Portobello beach in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many coastguard rescue (a) employees and (b) volunteers cover Scotland.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
The number of Coastguard rescue (a) employees and (b) volunteers that cover Scotland are as follows:
(A) Employees
HM Coastguards National Network enables the National Maritime Operations Centre (NMOC) and 9 Coastguard Operations Centres (CGOC) to coordinate any incident anywhere around the UK coast. Workload is therefore managed on a national basis enabling national capability and resource to be available to any incident. There are 314 full time equivalent Coastguard posts within the national network of which 69 are based at CGOCs located in Scotland (Aberdeen, Shetland and Stornoway).
There are 37 full time equivalent Coastguard posts that are responsible for the management, training and oversight of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Teams that cover Scotland.
(B) Volunteers
There is an establishment of 1,226 volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers that cover Scotland.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many coastguard search and rescue helicopters are available for operations in Scotland.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
There are four Her Majesty’s Coastguard search and rescue (SAR) helicopter bases in Scotland, with a SAR helicopter operating at each base 24 hours a day. The speed and range of the aircraft means that HM Coastguard has the ability to surge up to five Coastguard SAR helicopters to a single incident in Scotland, should it be necessary to do so.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the coastguard response time was to the incident off Portobello in Edinburgh in the early hours of 15 May 2016.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
HM Coastguard were notified by the Scottish Ambulance Service of two persons in the water off Portobello in Edinburgh at 0237 GMT on 15 May 2016. The Coastguard Rescue Teams from Fisherrow and Queensferry were tasked at 0241 GMT and were on scene at 0257 GMT. The two persons in the water were recovered to dry land by the Police at 0304 GMT.
Asked by: Deidre Brock (Scottish National Party - Edinburgh North and Leith)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the average response time is for coastguard personnel on emergency callouts; and what the longest response times were in each of the last five years.
Answered by Robert Goodwill
Each incident involving a Coastguard Rescue Team (CRT) is different in its context given geography, terrain, weather conditions, prevailing traffic conditions and the availability of individual volunteer Coastguard Rescue Officers and other responders. Against that background the Maritime and Coastguard Agency does not collate or maintain data in respect of cumulative response times either locally or nationally. However it can provide specific response times for specific incidents.
In a typical year there are between 12,000 and 14,000 incidents to which a CRT will be required to respond.