Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has carried out an impact assessment on the recruitment and retention policy on the operational capabilities of the Coastguard Rescue Service.

On 16 July, after hearing the views of Coastguard Rescue Officers, trade unions and members of Parliament, it was confirmed that plans to move to the expenses-only volunteer model in September will not go ahead. Response has remained unchanged in the meantime. The focus of DfT and MCA remains to maintain a robust, effective search and rescue response along the UK coastline.