UK government drops plan to stop paying coastguard volunteers

Move raises questions over position of the head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency

Ministers have U-turned on plans to strip volunteer coastguard officers of their hourly pay after intense criticism of the plan.

The announcement, made by the maritime minister in parliament on Thursday, was described as a huge win for coastguards, many of whom had said they would reduce their hours or leave the service altogether if the government had pushed ahead. It has raised questions over the position of Virginia McVea, the head of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA).

Coastguard officers “took their campaign across the UK and into the corridors of power” and had secured a “richly deserved win”, said their representative.

Nicola Savage, a national officer with GMB, the union representing the coastguards, said: “It was a scandal that these brave, life-saving workers would have their pay cut. But ministers have listened and done the right thing.”

Coastguard rescue officers volunteer to join the service, but are paid by the hour when on callout. Officials came up with the plan to scrap that pay after the court of appeal confirmed in January that CROs had been serving as workers, not as pure volunteers – partly because of that remuneration.

Rather than recognise their worker status, the MCA chose to stop the payments from September, with the aim of being able to begin legally classing CROs as volunteers.

This was met with heavy criticism from CROs, their union and parliamentarians. The maritime minister, Keir Mather, and the head of the MCA were both accused of misleading MPs as they sought to justify the measure. Results of an internal survey, revealed by the Guardian, suggested the MCA knew the measure risked driving away many experienced CROs.

Addressing the Commons on Thursday, Mather confirmed the plan was being scrapped. He said: “We want to ensure that CROs are treated with dignity, with respect and they are empowered to carry out the incredible duties that they do. Having listened to the views and testimonies of CROs first-hand, I can confirm that the move to the expenses-only volunteer model in September will not go ahead, and that current arrangements will remain in place.”

Mather also refused to say he had confidence in McVea, the MCA’s chief executive.

Jerome Mayhew, the shadow transport minister, told Mather the survey leaked to the Guardian had revealed widespread opposition to the plans among CROs. But he said McVea had tried to tell MPs the proposal had their overwhelming support. “So given that he has reversed the decision and he has seemingly failed to express his support for the chief executive, can he now confirm whether or not he still has confidence in the chief executive of the MCA?”

Mather said: “The MCA and His Majesty’s Coastguard do vital work and ministers have full confidence in the service, but when those on the ground raise concerns of the scale that we’ve seen and when the evidence base proves insufficient, it’s absolutely right that we pause and that we engage again. That is exactly what taking this decision to not move ahead with the new model in September facilitates, to ensure that we treat CROs with the dignity and respect that they deserve, and most importantly get this system right.”