Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans his Department has made to support mountain rescue teams with helicopter cover in the event that Bristow Helicopters cannot sustain its operations.

The current difficulties are contained within Bristow Group and do not affect the Department for Transport’s contract with Bristow Helicopters Limited. Bristow Helicopters Ltd continues to fulfil its contractual obligations with the UK Government. The Department for Transport has protections in its contract to guarantee a search and rescue helicopter service in the unlikely event that these obligations should go unfulfilled.