PARLIAMENTARY EARLY DAY MOTION
FUTURE FUNDING FOR MOUNTAIN RESCUE TEAMS IN ENGLAND AND WALES (3 March 2004)

That this House recognises the incalculable work that the 60-plus locally-based mountain and cave-rescue teams in England and Wales perform, in providing a free 999 service, along with their support to the police and other agencies; and further recognises these teams' abilities to give support at times of civil emergency and their extended contribution to community safety and security; notes the substantial increase in funding recently announced to similar teams across Scotland, particularly the additional funding received to allow for compatibility with future communication with new and developing communictions systems for the police and UK search and rescue and other agencies, effectively increasing by four times their core funding for the next three years; and calls therefore upon all relevant Government departments to review their support to such teams, with a view to providing a similar substantial increase in the financial support that can be made available to the teams in England and Wales, so that they can be properly recognised for the increasingly valuable contribution they make to our civil protection and society.

Sponsored by:
Mr Dai Havard (Labour)