North West Mountain Rescue Teams get tax backing

A campaign by local mountain rescue teams to gain relief on the money they pay in VAT and vehicle excise duty has taken a big step forward.

The Liberal Democrats have become the first of the major political parties to announce that the pledge will be included in their general election manifesto.

Chris Davies, the North West Euro-MP, said that the party’s treasury team had met last week under the chairmanship of Vince Cable and agreed that £200,000 should be budgeted for the purpose

He said the issue had previously been raised in the House of Commons by Liberal Democrat Westmorland and Lonsdale MP, Tim Farron, but that specific commitments were now needed from all parties.

And he hit out at claims that EU rules were responsible for the problem.

Last year the prime minister, Gordon Brown, blamed European regulations for his refusal exempt mountain rescue teams from VAT despite receiving a petition signed by 6,500 people. 

But Davies claims that no EU rules prevent the payment of a refund to charitable organisations, which is the plan adopted by Liberal Democrats.

Mountain rescue is a charity funded solely by voluntary contributions.  Its services are provided by 3,500 volunteers from across the country who give up their time freely.

There are 45 mountain rescue teams in England, of which 15 are in the North West.

They receive no funding from the UK government, although the Scottish Executive provides £400,000 each year for teams north of the border.

The Liberal Democrat initiative should be used to shame the other parties into making matching commitments, says Davies.

“Politicians cannot pretend that we are being generous in this,” he said.  “Mountain rescue teams provide a fantastic service to the public and they shouldn’t have to pay taxes as well for doing it.”

The MEP has been a competitive fell runner for 30 years and says he has never known when he might need the help of a rescue team himself.

The North West Mountain Rescue Teams are:

Oldham
Bolton
Bowland Pennine
Rossendale & Pendle
Cockermouth
Coniston
Cumrbia Ore Mines
Duddon & Furness
Kendal
Keswick
Kirkby Stephen
Langdale Ambleside
Patterdale
Penrith
Wasdale