Speeches by Mather.

“My hon. Friend speaks powerfully about rural and island communities in Scotland, and about the impact that coastguard services can have. From speaking to CROs in Southampton, I am cognisant of the principle of demotivation, and I am deeply concerned about its implications. A CRO said to me that this is ultimately about…”

“The hon. Gentleman points to the important fact that the MCA CROs conduct their work alongside other emergency services and full-time employees of the MCA, and we need to take all those operational impacts into account. In response to another question, I said that I have instructed officials to determine what can be sh…”

“I have been very clear from this Dispatch Box that I am tasking my officials with determining what information can be released in relation to the hon. Member’s questions. It is critical that MPs are able to engage fully in this process and hold me to account as they do so. As I said at the start, ultimately we had to c…”

“The hon. Gentleman is a far more seasoned Member of this House than I am, so I will leave it to him to opine on whether “the law is an ass” is parliamentary language or not. It is incumbent on the Department to deal with the legal reality that has been created as a consequence of the judgment. It is also right to say t…”

“I have no doubt about the contribution that CROs in Selsey make, and I would be happy to engage with the hon. Lady’s constituents on this issue. She raises the particular issue that for rural communities the impacts might be felt especially keenly. That is why it is critical, as we continue to engage with CROs—I will c…”

“The hon. Gentleman will know that my constituents and I are no strangers to Bridlington—a wonderful place to visit—and the CROs who work there to protect us must be given the tools they need to carry out their vital work. The broader review of the MCA will look at exactly the questions the hon. Gentleman raises. I will…”

“When I was in Southampton a few days ago, the intricacies, the difficulties and, ultimately, the horribleness of mud rescues were explained to me. The hon. Lady very powerfully makes the point that it is difficult for people who are not active CROs to understand the level of commitment required to carry out this danger…”

“Coastguard rescue officers in Bournemouth East carry out an incredible service on behalf of their local community and their country in keeping the public safe, and we thank them deeply for their service. I can confirm to my hon. Friend that we are looking at a range of options for what comes next. He must play his part…”

“I am very happy to engage with the hon. Lady’s constituents on this matter, and I thank her for so robustly defending them in this House. She is right to say that we have spoken a lot about the importance of CROs to rural, island and coastal communities. She brings an incredibly important perspective on the implication…”

“I have already been very clear from the Dispatch Box that I do not just want, but expect, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency to allow trade unions to play their full role when it comes to working with CROs to articulate their vision of what they want the future of the service to be. I do not feel that it would be appro…”

“The hon. Lady is right to identify the fact that for CROs, remuneration is not the reason they volunteer, but it allows them to do that volunteering work. She points to a number of options around future models. I can confirm to her that a range of options has been considered. I have paused the meetings that are happeni…”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for his robust defence of CROs in his constituency and their incredible contribution to his local area. I have already confirmed to the House that I have instructed officials to determine what can be shared to make sure that he is able to carry out his role of holding me to account and repres…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for raising the tragic case of Grace, Sarah and Mark. My condolences to their families. He is right to say that this is not a theoretical question. We have an urgent need to address this issue now to ensure that CROs can do what we need them to do, which is carry out this phenomenal pub…”

“The hon. Gentleman is right to point to the fact that there are a number of operative models for volunteers. I can assure him that I am looking at the long-term options to ensure that the CRO volunteering model is respected. We had an exchange in Westminster Hall about how the retained fire service model creates implic…”

“The full impact on search and rescue capability and operational capacity has been considered through this process, but the hon. Lady is absolutely right to point to the fact that it is critical that we continue to interpret what CROs are telling us about what the impact will be, and that we rationalise that with how we…”

“We need to work through this process strategically and methodically to ensure we are taking the right decision based on data and the lived experience of CROs. I have paused the engagement this week to allow us to more clearly get a better read of this situation, and that will inform my approach.”

“I thank the hon. Gentleman for being such a champion of the CROs in his constituency, and I am very happy to engage with them if he would be willing to facilitate that. Making sure that CROs can share their views fully and frankly is incredibly important to me. I am attempting to facilitate that by making it very clear…”

“The situation that the hon. Gentleman describes of a CRO in his constituency is exactly what I want to avoid. He is right to point out that, like a number of the CROs I spoke to the other day, some are small business owners, and we appreciate how hard they need to work, often with small margins, to keep their businesse…”

“The safety of the public and the operational capacity of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are of the utmost importance to the Government. CROs feeling that they are respected and able to play their full part in this process will facilitate that, and that is what I am determined to achieve. My hon. Friend is right to …”

“The hon. Gentleman speaks powerfully about the contributions that CROs make in the most tragic and emotionally traumatic circumstances. We need to do a number of things, including building a system that allows us to retain operational capacity so that we can keep people safe in our water, and granting CROs, and the MCA…”