EXCLUSIVE: The Maritime and Coastguard Agency’s plans to remove £11 per hour payments for coastguards who carry out life-saving rescues have triggered a huge backlash
Coastguards who carry out life-saving rescues have been given a glimmer of hope that “cruel” plans to cut their pay may be ditched.
Those who take time out of their main employment to carry out vital missions are entitled to receive £11 per hour when called out to emergencies. But the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is expected to remove these payments in September after a Court of Appeal ruled they should be classed as “working” while carrying out their duties.
The Mirror has been told the MCA had been due to haul in coastguards for meetings on Monday where it was believed they would be told they’d no longer be paid.
But the meetings were called off at the last minute on Friday after pressure and protests over the plans last week. GMB union called on the MCA to change course before it’s too late.
Nicola Savage, GMB’s National Officer, told The Mirror: “Thousands of coastguards across the UK were due to be dragged into meetings today and likely be told they will no longer be paid for the incredible work they do.
“It’s cruel, outrageous and it’s a badge of national shame that brave volunteers are being treated this way. We wouldn’t stand for police officers and firefighters being treated like this and we shouldn’t allow it for coastguards.
“GMB urges the MCA, the coastguards’ chosen union, to change course before it’s too late. We hope the MCA calling off the meetings is a sign of hope that they realise this policy is wrong.”
The Mirror launched our ‘Save Lives for Sam’ campaign last month calling for improved water safety after a spate of drownings. Our campaign is named after 16-year-old son Sam Haycock, who drowned in Ulley Reservoir in Rotherham, South Yorks, on his last day of school in 2021.
Among our demands, we want compulsory lessons in schools ahead of the holidays on how to survive if you get into difficulty in the water. The Government should also bring in ‘Sam’s Law’ to make it a legal requirement for safety equipment to be installed around high risk large bodies of water.
A MCA spokesman said Monday’s meetings have been “paused” so the arms-length government body can take more time to “listen” to feedback. They said: “We can confirm that meetings with Coastguard Rescue Teams have been paused while we take more time to listen to our teams and consider questions and feedback received fully.
“The decision to move the Coastguard Rescue Service to a revised volunteer model follows a legal judgment, which meant we needed to change how the service operates. We deeply value and recognise the significant service Coastguard Rescue Officers provide along our coastline.”
The MCA added that it officially recognises PCS as trade union representatives for coastguards but is engaging with GMB “to try agree a way forward that does not go against our current recognition agreements”.
In May 2024, the Employment Appeal Tribunal issued a judgement which determined that a former Coastguard Rescue Officer was a ‘worker’ in circumstances when he was carrying out a remunerated activity. The Court of Appeal upheld this judgement this January, after which a decision was taken to move the Coastguard Rescue Service to a revised volunteer model with paid expenses.
Coastguards gathered in Westminster last Wednesday to demand emergency call-out payments are reinstated and warned of morale hitting “rock-bottom”.