Minister: States unlikely to fund a new lifeboat service

Monday 20 November 2017

It's been confirmed that any new lifeboat service would still be subject to the same rules, regulations and compliance checks which govern the RNLI operation, and would be very unlikely to receive States funding.

Last week the St Helier lifeboat crew said they wanted to split from the RNLI and set up their own station, with a desire for more flexibility and less bureaucracy thought to be one of the main reasons for their anger.

However, the entire team were 'stood down' on Friday – and the George Sullivan all-weather lifeboat taken to Poole – before the crew could work out how to set up their new operation.

The latest twist in the stormy tale comes following a year of tensions with the RNLI over the sacking of coxswain Andy Hibbs, who was later reinstated, and concerns over increasing levels of administration.

Pictured: Coxswain Andy Hibbs who was sacked over alleged misconduct earlier this year, before being reinstated. His crew walked out in support and a public rally was held.

But Minister for the Environment Steve Luce, who described the situation as “very sad” and was himself a former volunteer on the St Catherine’s Lifeboat crew, warned that the new service will have to jump over the same compliance hurdles as the RNLI. This will include regular inspections of equipment and vessels, and ensuring that all members of the crew have the required training, Deputy Luce explained. 

“The rules that apply to the institution will equally apply to an independent boat. It’s not going to be possible in this day and age to just take a boat to sea and operate it without the proper training, without the proper checks and balances. They will have to do that, and we’ll need to speak to the crew about how they would do that,” he told Express.

Compliance won’t be the only challenge, however. While the Jersey RNLI funding pot sits at £7million, the new team will have to finance their own equipment. According to the RNLI, lifeboat crew kit – including a lifejacket, helmet and waterproofs – costs in excess of £2,400 per person. A Tamar all-weather lifeboat, meanwhile, is around £2.6million. 

Pictured: A self-righting all-weather Tamar lifeboat, which is capable of speeds of 25 knots and can travel up to 250 nautical miles, costs in the region of £2.6million.

Deputy Luce confirmed that government would not be providing any set-up funding at this stage. “When it comes to funding, we need to be quite clear that the institution have provided us for over 100 years with state-of-the-art boats at no cost to the island or islanders, but we accept and appreciate very much that the generous donations that islanders have given over the years. 

“Government would be in a very difficult situation if it came to funding because if the boat wanted to be truly independent, it would be treated very much like CI Air Search and other charities that provide rescue services for us. And the public would quite rightly say to us, ‘Government, why are you forking out millions of pounds for this when we know we can have that for no cost?’”

RNLI Head of Lifesaving Will Stephens told Express last week that they would look to recruit a new St Helier crew – ideally of all Jersey people – as soon as possible, and that, once this had occurred, the all-weather lifeboat would be returned.

The 30-tonne ship - known as George Sullivan – can carry in excess of 100 survivors, and has sufficient towing force to pull most boats and prevent larger vessels from running aground.

Video: The RNLI took away the Tamar ‘George Sullivan’ all-weather boat after standing down the St Helier crew on Friday. 

Thanks to La Manche agreement with the UK, France and other Channel Islands, Deputy Luce said that he was nonetheless confident that Jersey would have sufficient resources to continue through this difficult period.

“To see a lifeboat berth without a lifeboat on it is a very peculiar and uneasy feeling,” he said. “I’m assured by the harbourmaster that we have sufficient resources in place – one can’t deny it, they’re not quite as good as they were yesterday, but government will certainly be working to make sure that we get some replacement assets back as quickly as we possibly can,” he added. 

Deputy Luce advised, however, that “we’re not going to have another all-weather lifeboat back in tow in a matter of weeks.” New RNLI recruits are usually trained by their fellow crewmembers, who will teach them on the job.

“The amount of training that goes into finding yourself trained well enough to take an all-weather lifeboat to sea these days is quite extensive… Whether it’s an independent boat or an RNLI boat, obviously the existing crew have been stood down by the institution, we don’t have a crew of men in Jersey now who are trained to run a large lifeboat, and we don’t have a large lifeboat in Jersey to train them on… Even with intensive training, it can’t be done overnight.” 

Government officials will this week meet with all parties in a bid to find a way forward.  

READ MORE: 

St Helier Lifeboat opts for RNLI exit

Video: Lifeboat leaves as RNLI closes St Helier station

Crew sacking will not affect £7million RNLI Jersey funding