Coastguard changes - decision made

[MoodySabre]

Email received just now from MCA:


I am writing to let you know that following the independent review of the reponses of the second period of consultation on our proposals to modernise Her Majesty's Coastguard the Secretary of State for Transport has today announced the Government's decision. This can be found at http://www.dft.gov.uk/mca/mcga07-home/emergencyresponse/mcga-searchandrescue.htm



This means that we have now begun the process of moving to a national networked Coastguard operation with a Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) at its heart. We're also able to announce today that the MOC will be located near Fareham in Hampshire at a purpose built emergency services control centre that was originally designated as a fire control centre.



In addition to this centre there will also be Coastguard centres. at Dover, Aberdeen, Shetland, Stornoway, Belfast, Holyhead, Milford Haven, Falmouth and Humber all operating 24/7. The London coordination centre will continue to be co-located with the Port of London Authority.



We are also improving the leadership of the volunteer Coastguard Rescue Service by strengthening the numbers of existing regular Coastguard officers based in these coastal communities and I'm also pleased to be able to announce that the Coastguard Rescue Service will be strengthened by an increase of 50% to the number of full time officers available to the volunteers for operational attendance, leadership and advice.



This will allow much more flexibility in the management and training of our volunteers and help to remove the current uneven distribution of Coastguard Rescue Teams between their management.

It will also give a greater presence of Coastguard officers in coastal communities and provide increased opportunity for interaction with other emergency services and coastal leisure and commercial bodies.



These officers will operate in teams with a focal point or operational hub. It is intended that these will be based in;



Existing Centres

Lerwick

Aberdeen,

Bridlington,

Walton-on-the-Naze,

Dover,

Falmouth,

Swansea,

Liverpool,

Belfast

Stornoway.

Additional locations
Moray Firth

Northeast England,

Southampton/Portsmouth,

Dorset,

North Devon,

Cardigan Bay,

Strathclyde

Oban/Fort William





This structural change is about the way the regular Coastguard service coordinates search and rescue operations. It is not about the UK's rescue capability. Although we are reducing staff numbers our new structure will give the UK a nationally networked Coastguard service that is resilient, effective and efficient.

I know that you like me will be acutely aware that whilst this announcement is the beginning of a new era for HM Coastguard it will a time of massive change for colleagues currently based in Yarmouth, Thames, Solent, Portland, Brixham, Swansea, Liverpool, Forth and Clyde whose stations will be closing before 31 March 2015.

This structural change is about the way the regular Coastguard service coordinates search and rescue operations. It is not about the UK's rescue capability. Although we are reducing staff numbers, our new structure will give the UK a nationally networked Coastguard service that is resilient, effective and efficient. We will continue to provide a quality safety service to the mariner and coastal user and I'd like to thank you for your continued support as we move forward.

 

[starfire]

So the fire control centre is being used because they could not get the systems to work for centralised fire control.

The vast amount of money spent on this was written off.

I wonder how much money will be spent & how many lives lost before this insane scheme is written off.

I hope those that made the decision can be made accountable.

 

[Boathook]

I know that one member of staff left a while back when offered another job. I suspect that others may do the same.

 

[ffiill]

So nothing for the most popular part of the west of Scotland-The firth of Clyde.
Not too bad for us up here in NW Highlands but then again I always sail these waters assuming that if I get into trouble I will probably have to do my best to get out of it in the first instance.

 

[Pete7]

This is what they are currently paying to recruit staff:

COASTGUARD WATCH ASSISTANT
Vacancy from
Job No:GSO/9867Employer Reference:MCA/54/11/EXTSOC Code:3319Wage£13,459-£14,730 PER ANNUM PLUS 25% SHIFT ALLOWANCEHours37 PER WEEK, 5 DAYS OVER 7, DAYS, EVENINGS, NIGHTSLocationLee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire PO13DurationTemporaryDate posted22 November 2011

http://jobseekers.direct.gov.uk/det...-d29f-4acc-bba6-b97682c78e43&pid=4&j=GSO/9867

Pete

 

[NormanS]

I know that one member of staff left a while back when offered another job. I suspect that others may do the same.

GOSH!

 

[NormanS]

I wonder what the implication of this statement is.

"These officers will operate in teams with a focal point or operational hub. It is intended that these will be based in; .........Oban / FortWilliam"...

There are already Sector Managers at both Oban and FortWilliam. Does this mean that one man is going to have to try to cover both these huge areas?

 

[MoodySabre]

I think it means that there will still be the old centres where officers will be in charge of the volunteers who will do the work!

 

[kyleview]

Sounds like a sensible decision - the RNLI are all still there to do the rescues without government funding and all the H&S / union job protection baggage, unlike the MCA and the the other government funded service - Strathclyde Fire and RESCUE - who do everything but rescue people. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15757934

And I sail in the Clyde! Our local MP / MSPs who go on about "local knowledge" would not know the back end of a boat from the front - all about jobs, nothing about delivering a service. It really gets my back up when these "numpties" - MP/MSPs wax on about someting they know absolutely nothing about - except jobs for their trade union voters.

 

[alahol2]

Quote: the MOC will be located near Fareham in Hampshire at a purpose built emergency services control centre that was originally designated as a fire control centre.

Does that mean we can all now take our TEPs to Fareham?

 

[chanelyacht]

I wonder what the implication of this statement is.

"These officers will operate in teams with a focal point or operational hub. It is intended that these will be based in; .........Oban / FortWilliam"...

There are already Sector Managers at both Oban and FortWilliam. Does this mean that one man is going to have to try to cover both these huge areas?

OK, I'll try and answer what I can - these are not official answers of course!

The new sector structure, will, we believe, operate from hubs. So, at present, you have around 20 or so sectors reporting into a Coastal Safety Manager, all with very little to do with each other on a daily basis. There will now be a new "hub group" of, say, 5 or 6 sectors, with a sector team leader, working out of the hub. This will mean that they can more easily be called upon for knowledge, major incidents, and their most important role, training and organising the volunteer teams. It will be easier to cover absences.

Sector managers are rarely called upon to carry out rescues themselves - that's what the CRS teams are for.

I know that one member of staff left a while back when offered another job. I suspect that others may do the same.

This will be one of the big problems as centres wind down. At the moment, we don't know the content or pay for the new jobs - which all existing staff will have to apply for as one grade (CWA) is going, and we are told the two new watch grades will be significantly different. They have to be to attract the new salary bands we are told are coming - but we don't know what those bands are yet.

I think it means that there will still be the old centres where officers will be in charge of the volunteers who will do the work!

In some cases, former MRCCs will be retained for marine offices, surveyors, and the new coastal hubs to work from - but not all, and in some cases new ones will be built. Many of the existing sector bases are not suitable for the job.

Overall, I think this is a good move for us. There have been centres which have been too quiet to retain either skills or motivated staff. Obviously I regret any of my colleagues losing their jobs, but the service demographics mean that this will almost entirely be by natural wastage - anyone that wants to stay, and is able to move in some cases, will, I suspect, be able to. Obviously, the difficulty is for those that want to stay in areas where centres are closing but cannot relocate. It may be that the new coast structure offers chances - we don't know the exact details yet.

It's a difficult time for us all, but it's a lot better than we could have had under the first proposals.

 

[channel]

See - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-15842779

''One of the UK government's rationale for closing the Swansea coastguard station - Wales' busiest and the third busiest in the UK - is that the Department of Transport already employ large numbers of people in the city at the DVLA. ''

 

[Coaster]

Thanks for posting this information MoodySabre. The reorganisation seems quite sensible.

People never like change but if there was none we'd still have lifeboats rowing out through the surf. Technology and government overspending have apparently made changes inevitable. I'm glad the present lot have grasped the nettle.

 

[jdc]

Excellent service from Falmouth MRCC

I don't know enough about coastguard operations to comment favourably or otherwise on the recent re-org, but I do want to praise one of the main remaining MRCCs, Falmouth.

Yesterday a very pleasant lady from Falmouth MRCC phoned my home and spoke to my wife pointing out that our CG66 was >2 years old and asking of it's still current. She then emailed me a print-out of their data base, and when I replied with a minor change responded within a few minutes attaching the amended record.

She had also taken the trouble to look at my EPIRB registration and copy into the CG66 its hex code - which I'd been too lazy to do - and pointed out that the EPIRB registration probably needed the same change my CG66 had needed, giving me the phone no and email (again of a named individual) of the lady who deals with this. I sent an email to her and within an hour had a very pleasant email back enclosing a print-out of the amended record (and suggesting I give them a wave when next sailing past Pendennis).

In all a proactive, friendly and excellent service, from real people. I'm impressed! If this is the standard following the re-org, we're well served.

 

[pugwash94]

So nothing for the most popular part of the west of Scotland-The firth of Clyde.
Not too bad for us up here in NW Highlands but then again I always sail these waters assuming that if I get into trouble I will probably have to do my best to get out of it in the first instance.

Strathclyde?

 

[Boathook]

The future ....??

 

[TheBoatman]

Why am I not surprised!!

Quote
This means that we have now begun the process of moving to a national networked Coastguard operation with a Maritime Operations Centre (MOC) at its heart. We're also able to announce today that the MOC will be located near Fareham in Hampshire at a purpose built emergency services control centre that was originally designated as a fire control centre.

So Kent Fire Brigade + Surrey + East & West Sussex + Hampshire built this new "centre" and couldn't make it work and abandoned it after spending some 100's of millions of tax payers money.

The reason for their abandonment was

"We couldn't dovetail local knowledge into our computor systems".

The County Fire Brigades couldn't make it work for the Sarf East ~ so why do they (HMG) think it will work for the entire country for HMCG????????

Sometimes I just want to give up!!!!!

Peter
TheBoatman

 

[Deleted member 36384]

So nothing for the most popular part of the west of Scotland-The firth of Clyde.
Not too bad for us up here in NW Highlands but then again I always sail these waters assuming that if I get into trouble I will probably have to do my best to get out of it in the first instance.

Strathclyde?

To be honest I am not sure how the Firth of Clyde will be covered now. Strathclyde has one of the longest coasts in the UK and is a large region which includes Oban.

The current Clyde Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre area of responsibility: Mull of Galloway to Ardmurchan Point including the Islands of Jura, Gigha, Islay, Arran, Colonsay, Coll, Tiree, Mull, Bute, and Cumbrae.

So it looks like (from the document) that "Strathclyde" will be one of the new "additional" operational hubs. I would like to hope that this is based in the Firth of Clyde area (lots of places locationally superior to Greenock) and not doubled up with Oban operational hub. In fact it could be a good idea to bring jobs to Cumbrae, Arran or Bute islands. The outer islands are too near the Oban hub.

channel yacht would you have any idea where the Strathclyde operational hub is planned, perhaps just left at Greenock?

 

[chanelyacht]

channel yacht would you have any idea where the Strathclyde operational hub is planned, perhaps just left at Greenock?

You know as much as I do.

It won't be Navy Buildings, that's for certain. Contractual arrangements were one of the main drivers in closing Clyde.

As for local knowledge versus the old fire control idea, local knowledge may have been a red herring, it certainly wasn't the main reason.

The principal reason for Fire Control not working is most brigades hate each other. They are not a national service, local politicians run them and consequently hate working together.

I'm actually optomistic about the new system - I think the idea is for the MOC to mainly cover the old Brixham / Portland / Solent area, although the areas will be grouped by radio coverage not the old territories. I believe the idea is to follow the air traffic model of teams qualifying on the area they will backup, so local knowledge exams will still feature. The service has always had people move from station to station, in fact a lot les now than we used to, so local knowledge was always vulnerable to loss. Our coastal volunteers are the best source of local knowledge anyway.

I'm sorry to see stations go, and hate seeing redundancies, but the demographics alone mean the actual numbers equate to natural departures anyway.

Can't comment on how the new roles will look though, we haven't seen them yet.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

Sounds like a sensible decision - the RNLI are all still there to do the rescues without government funding and all the H&S / union job protection baggage, unlike the MCA and the the other government funded service - Strathclyde Fire and RESCUE - who do everything but rescue people. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-15757934

And I sail in the Clyde! Our local MP / MSPs who go on about "local knowledge" would not know the back end of a boat from the front - all about jobs, nothing about delivering a service. It really gets my back up when these "numpties" - MP/MSPs wax on about someting they know absolutely nothing about - except jobs for their trade union voters.

My wife sat next to an RNLI secretary at a dinner. In the course of conversation the secretary said they were having a lot of trouble with H&S assessments and one particular H&S Inspector. Exasperated with his demands, her manager suggested he should join "shouts" so that he could verify the risk assessments. Careful selection of trips ensured he was seasick whilst safely strapped into his seat;nothing further was heard!