Petitions Committee welcomes First Minister’s response to coastguard report

20 April 2012

The National Assembly for Wales’s Petitions Committee has welcomed the response of the First Minister, Carwyn Jones AM, to its report on the reorganisation of coastguard services in Wales.

The Committee called on the Welsh Government to commission an independent risk assessment of proposals to close Swansea’s coastguard station as part of the UK Government’s restructuring of the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

The Committee acted after receiving a petition with almost 300 signatures raising concerns about the proposals which could see operations for the Swansea area potentially co-ordinated from stations located elsewhere in the UK.

Although powers over the Maritime and Coastguard Agency are not devolved, the Petitions Committee believes the Welsh Government is able to commission its own risk assessment because of the possible implications for people who work or visit coastal areas in Wales.

“We made two recommendations in our report and I am pleased to say both have been accepted by the Welsh Government,” said William Powell AM, Chair of the Petitions Committee.

“The First Minister has contacted the UK Government offering to share the cost of a full independent risk assessment of the implications in Wales and has committed to challenge the proposed changes to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency.

“This is exactly what the petitioners who raised this issue with us called for and my committee colleagues and I are delighted to have been able to assist them.”