PRIVATISATION OF SEARCH AND RESCUE SERVICES

Motion Text

That this House notes with concern plans by the Government privately to outsource search and rescue services; further notes that such a move would see RAF, Royal Navy and Coastguard helicopters replaced by civilian aircraft and crews; believes that replacing a public professional service with private companies would not meet the high standards of the military emergency teams that have saved thousands of lives over the decades; agrees with Tim Walker, Director of the Glenmore Lodge National Mountain Training Centre, that military crews would lose `essential training' if no longer involved in civilian rescues; and calls upon the Government to abandon these plans and preserve the well-established and highly professional service currently enjoyed.