Rescue services, currently provided free, should be paid for by walkers and climbers, according to suggestions on the Treasury website

Rescue services, currently provided free, should be paid for by walkers and climbers, according to suggestions on the Treasury website. Photo: MoD

The coalition Government’s first major exercise in crowdsourcing has produced a plethora of calls to make mountaineers, climbers and hillwalkers pay for rescue.

More than 44,000 people have blessed David Cameron and Nick Clegg with their ideas on how to save the country cash, and it’s not good news for mountain lovers.

If the ideas in the Treasury’s Spending Challenge were to be taken up by George Osborne, hillwalkers and climbers would have to take out compulsory insurance or pay for any rescue service they used. No fewer than eight separate posters on the Government website suggest participants in ‘dangerous activities’ such as climbing and playing rugby should bear the costs of any mishaps.

Other suggestions include the scrapping of the proposed privatisation of search and rescue helicopter provision – already put on hold by the coalition; the merging of mountain rescue with the fire, ambulance and Coastguard service, and the scrapping of the urban search and rescue teams.

One suggestion likely to find more favour with the mountain community is to grant VAT exemptions to volunteer charities on their vehicle costs, maintenance, insurance and protective clothing and to provide them with road tax exemption. The unnamed proponent says these charities could then spend more time on supporting their prime purpose rather than fund raising. There would be a small cost to the Treasury but a big boost to charities.

This would chime with mountain rescuers themselves who have been campaigning for years to be treated on a par with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution, which does enjoy VAT exemption.

More contentious suggestions include the proposal to build more reservoirs in the Highlands, Wales, and the North-West; remove administrative powers from national park authorities; abolish Natural England, and scrap the all-England coastal path.

There is also a proposal to force all civil servants to wear a hat and carry an umbrella. Men would have to don a bowler hat and women a smart business hat, with a corresponding boost to the economy and in particular the millinery industry.

The Treasury says of its Spending Challenge: “The process was open for the first few weeks to public sector workers alone. This is because they see what’s going on in their department and workplace, and know where there are opportunities to make savings.

“On 9 July, we opened the challenge to everyone – and received over 44,000 responses.

“We’re now asking you to look at the ideas we received and rate them to help give us an indication of which ideas you, the general public, think have potential. The chance to rate ideas will close at the end of August.”

The Spending Challenge suggestions can be seen on the Treasury website.

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