Chamber and committees

The voluntary work carried out by all search and rescue (SAR) teams in Scotland, throughout the year, is very much appreciated by Scottish Government (SG) Ministers. Government funding is normally available for: (a) the Trossachs Search and Rescue Team; and (b) all other search and rescue teams, directly from the statutory responder agencies for whom they deploy or operate in partnership with. This is normally achieved through Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs), Partnership Agreements (PAs) or by agreeing levels of reimbursement on a case by case basis. Ministers hope the SAR teams are successful in obtaining funds from their deploying agencies in these ways this spring and summer, as demand for their services is expected to increase, following the end of COVID-19 restrictions. In addition, next financial year, SG will again provide the long-established ‘annual grant’ to the Scottish civilian mountain rescue teams which are directly and routinely deployed by Police Scotland (PS) as an extension to PS’ national SAR responsibilities. Significant SG funding was, of course, available to Voluntary Sector organisations, including SAR organisations, for a range of needs, during the COVID 19 emergency. In particular the Communities and Third Sector Recovery Fund will continue to be available into next financial year, via the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations’ website: https://scvo.scot/support/coronavirus/funding . Other relevant Third Sector funding can also be found on the website for the relevant Third Sector Interface (TSI) : Third sector interfaces: contact details - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) .