Anger as air rescue centre is relocated to South Coast
BRITAIN’S air rescue coordination centre is to be moved from Scotland to the South of England, sparking SNP fury over ‘devastating’ defence cutbacks.
The Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Centre (ARCC), currently based at Kinloss Barracks in Moray, will be relocated to the National Maritime Operations Centre at Fareham, near Portsmouth, Hampshire, the Ministry of Defence (MoD) announced yesterday.
The Kinloss centre controls operations involving RAF, Royal Navy and Coastguard search and rescue helicopters, as well as the RAF mountain rescue service.
A total of 27 RAF posts and ten civilian j obs are thought to be affected by the move, although MoD bosses insisted there would be no compulsory redundancies, with staff assigned to other duties across the UK.
A UK Government spokesman said: ‘The relocation of the ARCC to the National Maritime Operations Centre at Fareham will combine the aeronautical and maritime rescue coordination functions, resulting in a better service for those in distress.
‘The new UK search and rescue service will use brand new, faster helicopters to cut average response times and provide a more reliable overall service.’
But SNP Westminster leader and Moray MP Angus Robertson said: ‘This is devastating news for the personnel at Kinloss, for Moray and for Scotland more generally. It is the latest in a series of disproportionate MoD cuts to defence bases, capabilities and personnel.
‘Two out of three Scottish air bases have been cut, the entire maritime patrol fleet has been scrapped and we have the lowest military personnel numbers in Scotland in living memory.
‘That the closure announcement is happening in the middle of a lifethreatening storm and comes only weeks after the independence referendum tells you much about the cynical approach of the MoD and the UK Government.’
Shadow defence minister Gemma Doyle, the Labour MP for West Dunbartonshire, said: ‘This is the wrong choice for the search and rescue centre and the wrong choice for Kinloss. There is a real risk of expertise being lost to search and rescue services. It is also very disappointing for the individuals involved.’
RAF Kinloss closed as an air base in 2012 to become an army barracks.