Charlie Dewhirst

“I am sure the Minister will join me in paying tribute to the team at the Maritime Rescue Co-ordination Centre at Bridlington, who keep people safe all the way from Northumberland down to Suffolk across 250 miles of coastline 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The proposed changes to make CROs unpaid is just one of the problems facing the MCA. National issues include recruitment and retention, understaffed teams in high-pressure environments working long hours, leading to stress and sickness, and pay that is not commensurate with other emergency services. Will the Minister ensure that the agency is appropriately resourced, but also that it is putting that resource into the right place to ensure our frontline teams have the tools they need?”