Search and Rescue reprieved for Coastguard service

David Roache, LSC commodore, welcomed the announcement yesterday that government plans to privatise the country's search and rescue helicopter service had been suspended saying it would be unthinkable to privatise other emergency services so why privatise search and rescue at sea?

"Another government U-turn gives the Search & Rescue service a reprieve as the Government's privatisation scheme runs into heavy weather and they yet again demonstrate that they are unable to conduct a simple bid process. "Surely this is a service that needs to stay in public hands, it would be unthinkable to privatise the Fire Service or the Police. Why then should the SAR service be privatised? Let's hope that good sense prevails and the service remains in public ownership," he added.

The BBC reported that the privatisation plans were scrapped after  "irregularities" emerged in the bidding process to find a supplier.

The preferred supplier, Soteria, a Franco-Canadian consortium, admitted it had access to commercially sensitive information. The Department for Transport and Ministry of Defence (MoD) said the preferred supplier would now not be used.

MoD Police are investigating how the information came to be in the possession of the bidder.

In a statement to Parliament regarding the £6bn procurement programme, Transport Secretary Philip Hammond said: "The Preferred Bidder in the SAR-H competition, Soteria, came forward to inform the government of irregularities regarding the conduct of their bid team which had only then recently come to light.

"The irregularities included access by one of the consortium members, CHC Helicopter, to commercially sensitive information regarding the joint MOD/DfT project team's evaluations of industry bids and evidence that a former member of that project team had assisted the consortium in its bid preparation, contrary to explicit assurances given to the project team."

He said the two departments would now "consider the potential procurement options to meet future requirements for search and rescue helicopters in the United Kingdom, including options to maintain continuity of search and rescue helicopter cover until new longer term arrangements can be put in place".