UK SAR 2013 privatisation: the new thread
And whom screwed up SAR10?? Not Bristow, one hears that someone in light blue was feeding info to one of the other bidders. If that hadn't come to light not only would the contract have been overpriced but no doubt pockets would have been lined with our hard earned taxes.
So far all we hear is rumour that the NGV is not up to speed, supposition that there arn't enough bases and what seems like hope that the whole thing will fail and the good fairy will pay billions to the RAF to save the day.
As the RAF can't even police our coast and doesn't seem to have enough air defence aircraft to protect UK I can't see them getting the call from Number 10.
Lets put the mud down and watch how it pans out and if there are any FACTS that show that things are not as they should be then lets put in a post.
So far all we hear is rumour that the NGV is not up to speed, supposition that there arn't enough bases and what seems like hope that the whole thing will fail and the good fairy will pay billions to the RAF to save the day.
As the RAF can't even police our coast and doesn't seem to have enough air defence aircraft to protect UK I can't see them getting the call from Number 10.
Lets put the mud down and watch how it pans out and if there are any FACTS that show that things are not as they should be then lets put in a post.
Last edited by Sevarg; 11th Apr 2015 at 12:50. Reason: Typos
... We (the UK) have outgrown our usefulness from a global positioning perspective and we need to restructure ourselves accordingly and align our current status with those already aligned to the 'new world order' (namely: Norway, Denmark, Germany et al). We cannot continue to run a world leading military order - simples. So paring back is the way to go. RAF SAR lost its raison d'etre - god knows how many years ago. It was surplus to requirement (as a military outfit) and several senior officers and politicians knew it.
However, I suggest that a broader interpretation of the task of defending the British people could have been taken. SAR Force, Fleet Air Arm SAR flights and ARCC could have morphed into something new that resembled the Norwegian model. The Coastguard, with European Parliament ambitions for their extinction and limited authority within the current regulatory framework, needs to put down strong roots in new areas so that they can feel important and secure. Morphing into 'UK Rescue' fits the bill and if you don't have the skill set then just buy it in.
... The government continued to squeeze further savings after the debacle that was SAR(H) in 2010. - Realising that this was far to generous a package handing over and so they grabbed the opportunity to 'adjust' SARH2 to within an inch of its monetary life by dicing up the new contract into much more manageable chunks. ...
Yes. We've been doing this since 1971. Somebody in government should have got a grip and sorted it out. No chance. Scrappy little contracts came and went without significant progress in the technical specification and the way they addressed the wider SAR pcture.
Without the challenge of a full and appropriate technical specification, the contractor kept bidding on what was there. As I understand it, it is not the regulator's job to stick their nose in and decide what the job is. The customer initiates the changes in the regulatory framework by specifying the task and the operator then has to work with the regulator to develop a safe way forward.
Now we are left with a huge step-change in the technical specification and therefore the regulatory framework. What it comes down to is that this was the job thrust on the shoulders of Liz Forsyth and John McIntyre last week. Good luck folks.
(From Casbag 36.) "This stuff is all new to us (MR) but we are not alone. No civilian operator has ever had a contract like this operating in a regulatory framework like this before. The CAA has never regulated operations like these before. That goes some way toward explaining why this has all taken so long and why incremental changes continue."
(As I posted elsewhere.) "Bristow will be experiencing all the problems you might expect with a major public contract of this complexity. Most of those problems will be ironed out and we will never need to know anything about them. Whatever mistakes Bristow make there is a good chance that they will also be made to carry the can for any mistakes of their customer or the regulator."
... Further - SAR is a 'hidden' public service - the man on the street doesn't have the faintest idea what is going on in SAR, doesn't care and it isn't a vote winner.....don't expect miracles or even a par with its previous incarnation. Voters don't care.........................
However, perhaps around a million internet posts in English on UK sites have been posted on this subject. That doesn't count comments on internet press articles which might be another million or two. So it took more than a couple of dozen sad ppruners to produce that lot which means that quite a few people are ready to care. Also, the world is watching and contractors and governments around the planet are waiting to see what happens.
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La oss gå flyr.
Oh dear Sevarg - not ex-RN by any chance with that anti-RAF drivel?
No-one is expecting the RAF to save the day - the deed is done and we can only hope that the new service gets up to speed as soon as possible.
There may be regulatory issues preventing the NVG ops but these have been in the pipeline for a long time - DfT need to get a grip.
Meanwhile, HMCG have shown their grand plan for reducing bases and streamlining operations hasn't gone smoothly - Swansea CG was closed based on the incorrect assumption that Milford could cope - now they are desperately recruiting ex-Swansea staff because they were a. competent and b. had local knowledge.
And these are the guys tasked with managing UKSAR - they were proposing to monitor the UKSAR aviation contract using the same chap who monitors vehicles and other contracts - no aviation knowledge or experience at all. I hope they have finally got someone in who knows something about SAR, particularly aviation provision of SAR.
And who was the customer
oh yes that would be HMCG.
There is a rumour that military rearcrew are being asked to bring their own safety equipment (immersion suits, helmets etc) when they start training with Bristow - the lead time on company kit is 4 months or so apparently. More fantastic organisation!
No-one is expecting the RAF to save the day - the deed is done and we can only hope that the new service gets up to speed as soon as possible.
There may be regulatory issues preventing the NVG ops but these have been in the pipeline for a long time - DfT need to get a grip.
Meanwhile, HMCG have shown their grand plan for reducing bases and streamlining operations hasn't gone smoothly - Swansea CG was closed based on the incorrect assumption that Milford could cope - now they are desperately recruiting ex-Swansea staff because they were a. competent and b. had local knowledge.
And these are the guys tasked with managing UKSAR - they were proposing to monitor the UKSAR aviation contract using the same chap who monitors vehicles and other contracts - no aviation knowledge or experience at all. I hope they have finally got someone in who knows something about SAR, particularly aviation provision of SAR.
And who was the customer
Without the challenge of a full and appropriate technical specification, the contractor kept bidding on what was there. As I understand it, it is not the regulator's job to stick their nose in and decide what the job is. The customer initiates the changes in the regulatory framework by specifying the task and the operator then has to work with the regulator to develop a safe way forward.
There is a rumour that military rearcrew are being asked to bring their own safety equipment (immersion suits, helmets etc) when they start training with Bristow - the lead time on company kit is 4 months or so apparently. More fantastic organisation!
In Reply Crab
Oh dear Sevarg - not ex-RN by any chance with that anti-RAF drivel?
No afraid not ex RN, ex RAF but one that thinks for myself, as I have said before the brain washing didn't work.
In fact I've been out so long and now retired, I would call myself an ex civilian.
Re the NVG RUMOUR of regulatory problems. This is up to the CAA not the DfT. The CAA or EASA are not behold to DfT nor should they be. Not that I am saying for one minute that they are not with out their faults. In this case I think it's the CAA and they are Quote Wiki:-
The UK Government requires that the CAAs costs are met entirely from its charges on those whom it regulates. Unlike many other countries, there is no direct Government funding of the CAAs work. It is classed as a public corporation, established by statute, in the public sector. The connection it has with the government is via the Machinery of Government and Standards Group of the Cabinet Office.
So that's the cage to rattle, not much hope until the elections over.
I'm not defending the CG, I admit I know little of their workings and have had no contact with them for 15 years.
Lastly I see no point in commenting on the latest RUMOUR on rear crew safety equip, you say yourself it's a RUMOUR. I know this is a rumour network but here they get treated as facts.
Oh dear Sevarg - not ex-RN by any chance with that anti-RAF drivel?
No afraid not ex RN, ex RAF but one that thinks for myself, as I have said before the brain washing didn't work.
In fact I've been out so long and now retired, I would call myself an ex civilian. Re the NVG RUMOUR of regulatory problems. This is up to the CAA not the DfT. The CAA or EASA are not behold to DfT nor should they be. Not that I am saying for one minute that they are not with out their faults. In this case I think it's the CAA and they are Quote Wiki:-
The UK Government requires that the CAAs costs are met entirely from its charges on those whom it regulates. Unlike many other countries, there is no direct Government funding of the CAAs work. It is classed as a public corporation, established by statute, in the public sector. The connection it has with the government is via the Machinery of Government and Standards Group of the Cabinet Office.
So that's the cage to rattle, not much hope until the elections over.
I'm not defending the CG, I admit I know little of their workings and have had no contact with them for 15 years.
Lastly I see no point in commenting on the latest RUMOUR on rear crew safety equip, you say yourself it's a RUMOUR. I know this is a rumour network but here they get treated as facts.
Sevarg, apologies for assuming dark-blueness on your part.
If the CAA is established by statute, is part of the machinery of Govt and presided over by the Cabinet Office, then the DfT is exactly the cage to rattle - but I agree the election will prevent any actual action.
I can only state things as a rumour that I have not personally witnessed, no matter how much I trust the source of such comments. And, as you say, it is a rumour network.
Whilst I have every faith in the crews and aircraft of the new SAR service, I have very little in the mechanisms and organisations set up to manage and monitor what actually goes on to provide them with the best help possible.
If the CAA is established by statute, is part of the machinery of Govt and presided over by the Cabinet Office, then the DfT is exactly the cage to rattle - but I agree the election will prevent any actual action.
I can only state things as a rumour that I have not personally witnessed, no matter how much I trust the source of such comments. And, as you say, it is a rumour network.
Whilst I have every faith in the crews and aircraft of the new SAR service, I have very little in the mechanisms and organisations set up to manage and monitor what actually goes on to provide them with the best help possible.
Originally Posted by [email protected]
... If the CAA is established by statute, ...
A subject hardly worth our attention. However, the Coasties on the other hand ....
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If these 'rumours' weren't true, someone would be on here gnashing their teeth.
Ask the ARCC who they'll be sending to night overland tasks in Scotland for the forseeable future. Prestwick or Boulmer, that's who.
As for the lack of immersion suits - it's been the case for quite a while.
Ask the ARCC who they'll be sending to night overland tasks in Scotland for the forseeable future. Prestwick or Boulmer, that's who.
As for the lack of immersion suits - it's been the case for quite a while.
I think Satsuma may have a point. The new service was supposed to see no reduction in capability and was heralded by a certain politician as a "better service". However, it is what it is and will no doubt (in terms of night capability) catch up as crews with previous NVG experience replace the transition crews. I'm assuming (read hoping) that is what will happen as the agencies involved are keeping somewhat tight-lipped about the matter. The ARCC has had to cope with no overland NVG capability from the two Bristow gap-SAR flights, it is not a new problem!
I read lots of 'points'. I see that the latest one is immersion suits. I don't know what planet these people live on but where I come from 100+ bespoke immersion suits take some time to appear - as do the measurements of crews not even employed by Bristow yet.
Good God it will be the wrong type of biscuits in the crew room next. Pathetic.
Good God it will be the wrong type of biscuits in the crew room next. Pathetic.
I read lots of 'points'. I see that the latest one is immersion suits. I don't know what planet these people live on but where I come from 100+ bespoke immersion suits take some time to appear - as do the measurements of crews not even employed by Bristow yet.
Good God it will be the wrong type of biscuits in the crew room next. Pathetic.
Good God it will be the wrong type of biscuits in the crew room next. Pathetic.
The alleged lack of compliance or capability that the same individuals keep harping on about is becoming more than a little tedious. You will not get any answers to your questions and snipes here on a public site for the same reasons that you will not find military crews declaring their capabilities on the military aircrew forum. They are tax payer-funded too but the public does have an automatic right to that information.
If you want information then I am sure that you are welcome to arrange a visit to your nearest SAR base where, if they are not out training or on a shout, they will tell you as much as they are able about the operation.
There are very few Bristow SAR crew members who actually take any notice of this forum. They cannot learn anything from it. One person described it to me as 'Jurassic Park', populated by disgruntled ex-military SAR dinosaurs, petulant Bristow rejects and armchair experts.
If you want information then I am sure that you are welcome to arrange a visit to your nearest SAR base where, if they are not out training or on a shout, they will tell you as much as they are able about the operation.
There are very few Bristow SAR crew members who actually take any notice of this forum. They cannot learn anything from it. One person described it to me as 'Jurassic Park', populated by disgruntled ex-military SAR dinosaurs, petulant Bristow rejects and armchair experts.
35 Year old Grievences
Jerry G, please don't think this is 'inter service banter', rivalry, whatever. The Command & Control of the Fastnet, probably above 'Wings' head even, was a goat f..k!
Properly crewed and trained RAF assets were offered and rejected. This is to take NOTHING from the RN crews who carried out those rescues - but when one witnessed (on TV) empty strops being dangled towards survivors who couldn't reach them, scratch RN crews being hauled in off leave by local radio bulletins, and the use of helos to fly camera crew (again, not SAR equipped) questions should have been asked of the RN Command. Those questions undoubtedly were addressed since subsequently RN SAR came under the RCC's.
BTW, RAF crews were equally capable over the water as they were in the hills. In my 22 years and over 7k hours I guess I did my fair share of both.
Wishing the new CIV SAR all the very best for the future. Onwards and upwards - now, is it navy patter or RAF patter you use
The alleged lack of compliance or capability that the same individuals keep harping on about is becoming more than a little tedious.
Then, in a pathetic effort to denigrate the credentials of those who are actually concerned about this stuff, the same individuals start name-calling.
Same Again - fortunately I know that you are not typical of the Bristow workforce otherwise I would fear even more for the future of UKSAR.
Thanks for the patronising response Same Again. Much of the discussion on this forum is valid (much is not). More importantly it is a public forum where people are free to express their opinions, if they upset you so much why are you here!!?
People aren't necessarily expecting answers but they are free to express their frustrations. If it makes you feel better by trying to shout them down then that is your problem.
People aren't necessarily expecting answers but they are free to express their frustrations. If it makes you feel better by trying to shout them down then that is your problem.