Fears for seaside communities as coastguard payments set to be axed

MPs and councillors are calling for an urgent rethink on removing payments for coastguard rescue officers (CROs) fearing it could have dire consequences for coastal communities across Devon and Cornwall.

The 400 volunteer officers operating across 36 teams in the two counties are considered a vital lifeline responding to emergencies at sea and helping in other rescue missions.
They are among 3,500 highly trained coastguard volunteers across the country who currently receive an hourly remuneration for incidents.
In September that is due to end as a result of a legal challenge over the status of volunteers and a subsequent Court of Appeal hearing which confirmed that they qualify as “workers” and are entitled to statutory benefits such as sick pay and holiday pay.
The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) says it has decided to transition to a “revised volunteer model” ending the £11 an hour payments for call-outs.
But the move has provoked anger across the country and particularly in Cornwall and Devon with people being urged to sign a petition so the issue can be discussed in parliament if it reaches 100,000 signatures by October 13.
In North Devon there are four coastguard rescue teams. In a letter to the Maritime and Coastguard Agency Liberal Democrat MP for the district Ian Roome said the move could undermine the service’s ability to operate at full strength in the future.
“In coastal communities like North Devon, these volunteers are a lifeline,” he said. “They go out in all weather, at all hours, often in dangerous conditions, to keep others safe.
“I understand there are legal issues driving the decision, and while I’m sure volunteer CROs seek no financial gain, going from £11 an hour to nothing risks damaging morale and weakening the service. If the MCA says it cannot continue remuneration, it must set out what support it will put in place instead.“
North Devon councillor for Braunton West and Georgeham Pru Maskell (Con) said the decision had caused deep concern among CROs.
Offering a 999 service at a fraction of the cost of the three other emergency services, they were often called upon in lieu of an ambulance being available, she said.
They also had to respond to unpleasant situations like the retrieval of bodies from cliff faces.
“The coastguard service is an integral part of the blue light emergency services around the North Devon coastline, particularly for the tourism and fishing sectors. Any move that could damage the quality and reliability of those services matters deeply to our communities.
“The modest payments are vital as recognition of the dangerous and important work that they do.
“It is also a way to make such volunteering, which entails a significant commitment of time and energy, financially viable for individuals in our community.”
In Croyde the 11 volunteers who make up the coastguard rescue team attended 111 call outs in 2025 assisting with the rescue of 37 people including cliff related call outs, 21 involving casualty care and 32 water rescues. They also assisted in missing person searches, dog rescues, washed up boats and welfare concern cases. They can be called out any time day or night on 365 days of the year.
North Cornwall Liberal Democrat MP Ben Maguire is backing volunteer coastguards demanding the MCA has a rethink.
He has also taken the issue to Parliament, leading calls for action through an urgent question and a cross-party parliamentary motion aimed at highlighting concerns about the impact the changes could have on coastal communities across the country. 
“Any move to reduce or remove remuneration is deeply concerning,” he said. “It risks undermining morale, placing additional pressure on individuals already undertaking demanding and often dangerous work, and may ultimately lead to resignations or make recruitment of new volunteers more difficult.”
Liberal Democrats on Cornwall Council led by Cllr Nicky Chopak (Lib Dem, Poundstock) and Cllr James O Keefe (Lib Dem, Padstow) are supporting Ben Maguire’s Parliamentary efforts with a motion in support of volunteer coastguards being prepared.
Cllr Chopak said: “Volunteer coastguards put themselves on the front line to protect others, often in difficult and dangerous conditions. We’ve seen only too recently the challenges that residents and visitors can face along our coastline, whether that’s getting caught by changing tides, becoming stranded on cliffs, or finding themselves in difficulty in the water. Knowing that dedicated coastguard volunteers are on call provides real peace of mind for local people and the many visitors who come to enjoy our coast. They deserve our support and recognition.“ 
Communities have also come out in support of the coastguard volunteers. Ray Nash of the Toby Jug Cafe in Boscastle said: “Boscastle knows better than most the value of our coastguard teams. We’ve seen their bravery, their compassion and their unwavering commitment to keeping people safe. We stand with them — today and always.
“These are highly trained people who have to qualify each year to do what they do in rope rescue, flood rescue, lost person training and first aid and various other things. There is a lot. Taking the payments away is not giving them the respect they deserve.”
On Ray’s Facebook page he has shared the views of a coastguard, who has served for ten years, and asked remain anonymous.
“I do Coastguard because I love it. It can be incredibly rewarding and sometimes you genuinely make a difference to someone’s worst day. But it can also be traumatic. I still remember one incident where I helped place a young lad into a body bag. That month, for all the calls and responsibility, we received £21. That’s not me complaining about not being paid enough — it’s simply to show that nobody is doing this for the money.
“We give up hundreds of hours of our own time every year. Training on Wednesday evenings, training on Sunday mornings, call-outs at all hours, and mutual aid deployments that can last for days helping other emergency services.
“From September 2026 onwards, all of this looks set to be compromised. Many serving coastguards will unfortunately be faced with a choice between responding to emergencies or losing money at a time when most households are already feeling the squeeze.
“We’re part of the UK’s 999 emergency response system, ‘funded by the government’, yet from September many volunteers will find themselves paying out of their own pockets to save lives along our coastline.
“That should concern everyone.”
The MCA spokesperson said the decision followed a legal judgment which meant it needed to change how the service operates.
“This new model protects choice, flexibility and the ability for people to volunteer alongside their primary employment,” it said.
“We deeply value and recognise the significant service CROs provide along our coastline and we will be supporting them during this transition.”
The UK parliament petition entitled ‘Introduce legislation to make it possible to remunerate emergency volunteers’ was started in Scotland by John Bradbury, who spent over 50 years with HM Coastguard and received an MBE in recognition of his decades of dedicated service to saving lives at sea. It can be found here at https://petition.parliament.uk/petitions/763675