Fears coastguard pay cut will 'weaken service'
Bigbury Coastguard Rescue TeamFears have been raised that cutting payments for volunteer coastguards will "damage morale and weaken the service".
About 400 coastguard rescue officers working across 36 teams in Devon and Cornwall currently receive £11 per hour when called out to emergencies.
Those payments are set to end in September after a court ruled volunteers should be classed as workers entitled to benefits such as sick pay and holiday pay. Raising concerns about how this change would affect the service, North Devon MP Ian Roome said the volunteers were "a lifeline".
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) said it would move to a new volunteer model, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
Roome called for the MCA to "set out what support it will put in place instead" if it could not continue remuneration.
He said volunteer coastguards were not motivated by money and went out in "all weather, at all hours, often in dangerous conditions, to keep others safe" - however, a cut from £11 an hour to nothing could affect morale.
Kingsbridge Coastguard Rescue TeamNorth Devon councillor Pru Maskell said the coastguard service was "an integral part of the blue light emergency services around the north Devon coastline, particularly for the tourism and fishing sectors".
She said: "The modest payments are vital as recognition of the dangerous and important work that they do.
"It is also a way to make such volunteering, which entails a significant commitment of time and energy, financially viable for individuals in our community."
North Cornwall MP Ben Maguire said any move to remove pay was deeply concerning and warned it could lead to resignations and make it harder to recruit volunteers.
The MCA said the decision followed a legal judgment which meant it needed to change how the service operated.
"This new model protects choice, flexibility and the ability for people to volunteer alongside their primary employment," it said.
"We deeply value and recognise the significant service Coastguard Rescue Officers provide along our coastline and we will be supporting them during this transition."