Government ‘must control search and rescue service’

Picture: James Jeune (34002501)

POLITICIANS need to reclaim responsibility for the Island’s search and rescue operations, the chair of the Jersey Lifeboat Association has said, following a report which criticised Ports of Jersey and ministers’ handling of the 2017 St Helier RNLI crew dispute.

Ben Shenton said the governance and oversight of the Coastguard needed to be ‘pulled back into government’ rather than being handled by the arm’s-length Ports of Jersey.

On Friday Chief Minister Kristina Moore said there would be no committee of inquiry convened to look into the events surrounding the 2017 St Helier RNLI crew walkout and that she considered the matter was now ‘concluded’.

A report carried out by Sir David Calvert-Smith criticised the handling of the dispute, which saw the relationship between the charity and St Helier crew members break down following the sacking of coxswain Andy Hibbs. He was later reinstated but tensions continued to escalate and came to a head when the RNLI closed the St Helier station and removed the George Sullivan all-weather lifeboat from the Island and took it to Poole, standing down the crew in the process. The Jersey Lifeboat Association, largely composed of former RNLI crew, was formed in the aftermath of the controversy.

Mr Shenton said that the report by Sir David ‘could not be any more damning of Ports of Jersey’ and agreed with Deputy Moore that there was ‘nothing to be gained’ from a full-scale inquiry.

However, he called for a review of the governance and oversight of Ports of Jersey and the Coastguard. He said: ‘The next step is that the Coastguard needs to be pulled back into government.

‘There needs to be a complete review of performance and oversight of Ports of Jersey.

‘The Coastguard is responsible for co-ordination but it seems to believe they also have auditor control over us and regulatory control, which they don’t.

‘Politicians need to stop walking away and start taking responsibility for political oversight.’

In his review, Sir David concluded that Ports of Jersey ‘seems to enjoy a status unbefitting a body which supplies crucial services’ and had largely been ‘unwilling to explain its state of knowledge or its actions in connection with the events of 2016–8’.

The official publication of the review, which had been leaked online earlier this year, prompted a critical response from Ports of Jersey which questioned the ‘objectivity, accuracy and validity’ of the review, claiming that it was not invited to provide evidence.

Mr Shenton said: ‘Individuals from Ports of Jersey were asked to contribute but they failed to do so – the Harbour authority didn’t contribute either. For them to turn around and say they think the report is biased is ridiculous.’

He added that ‘serious questions’ needed to be asked as to why the Island’s Freedom of Information Law did not currently cover arm’s-length bodies, despite the States Assembly agreeing in 2014 that they should be included under the legislation.

The JLA has been suspended from operating since December to allow an investigation to be carried out into a collision in which its vessel, Sir Max Aitken III, hit rocks near Noirmont. The investigation has since concluded.

Mr Shenton said the JLA were willing to return to the Island’s waters and work with the Coastguard ‘but as an equal partner’.

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