Why aren't these Charities Government Funded?

Government doesn't fund anything, sazz1. We do.

And, yes, as eazybee says, government would interfere if it gave tax-payers' money to the RNLI or air ambulance.

The RNLI could easily be manned by the Royal Navy or Royal Navy Air Station

No it couldn't.
You obviously know little about how the Royal Navy functions.
Or the Forces in general.

eazybee

I believe they don't want to be, because of the Government interference which it would entail, according to a speaker I heard recently from the RNLI.

This too.

As ex-RN, my DH supports the RNLI because it is very important to him, as it is to all seafarers.

it would seem more natural to incorporate the air ambulances services into the nhs.
most people assume they are already, like other paramedics.

SueDonim

I wonder why so many people think the armed forces are just dogsbodies available to mop up after other people? They’re stretched enough as it is in the defence of the UK and now they should be reaching people off mountains etc?

👍👍👍

They are trained in disaster control and always there when other services fail, go on strike etc.

We’re talking about the RNLI and Air Ambulance aren’t we Casdon?
I hadn’t noticed that the country is in an unholy mess - at the risk of derailing the thread further, pray tell.

SueDonim

I wonder why so many people think the armed forces are just dogsbodies available to mop up after other people? They’re stretched enough as it is in the defence of the UK and now they should be reaching people off mountains etc?

This ^

MerylStreep

The more I read the op the more ridiculous the idea is.
The op seems to assume that crew in the Royal Navy are capable of handling small craft and understand tides, sandbanks etc.
The majority have probably never handled a small craft in their lives.

DH has but he's getting on a bit now ..... 😀

RAF used to do the helicopter search and rescue. My neighbour and also my brother in law were RAF personnel involved. The RAF stopped doing this service and now run by the Coastguard. I believe the company is Bristow. Im not sure who funds this much needed service nowadays.

Germanshepherdsmum

We’re talking about the RNLI and Air Ambulance aren’t we Casdon?
I hadn’t noticed that the country is in an unholy mess - at the risk of derailing the thread further, pray tell.

You asked me how much tax I was willing to pay, and I told you as much as it takes to get the country out of the unholy mess it’s in. I’m not a money grabber, I want things put right, simple.

Somehow I doubt you’d be happy with a big personal tax hike. You’d say the wealthy should be taxed instead wouldn’t you?

And I don’t know what the unholy mess is - perhaps you could clarify.

I was in New Zealand during our winter (their summer) for two months and was quite flabbergasted to find out that their ambulances are not state funded! Imagine that! The St John’s Ambulance Brigade supplies all ambulances in New Zealand. I’m not sure if the government give them a grant, but they certainly don’t supply ambulances, nor the staff who run them and treat patients until they arrive at hospital, nor provide the servicing and upkeep of the ambulances. I was shocked to discover this was and realised just how lucky we are.

Please don't get the Government involved. These charities do an amazing job and HMGov would just mess it up.
I'd rather keep my direct debits going than pay more tax which will end up somewhere else altogether.

The navy do get training in small boats, we see them practicing whenever we leave Portsmouth on a day time ferry bound for France.

But the thing about the RNLI is that their crews are local, many have links to the sea, as fishermen and the like. It means all the crews know their local waters and coastline very well indeed, and when you may need to get close to shore, when rocky outcrops reduce water depth to inches and could tear a life boat's hull out, then you need crews who know their territory.

We are RNLI supporters and get their magazine and so many of their inshore and offshore rescues, some in horrendous weather conditions, are successful because the crews know their territory so well.

Germanshepherdsmum

Somehow I doubt you’d be happy with a big personal tax hike. You’d say the wealthy should be taxed instead wouldn’t you?

Er - do you know how wealthy I am?

I would refer you to the threads on here today to remind you what a mess we are in, a number of which you are a contributor on. Burying your head in the sand doesn’t work.

Going off piste again, but Personally, I think people should take out insurance to cover the cost of rescue, after all, we have to take out holiday insurance and declare if we are to participate in a sport, etc.
DH’s pastime could be dangerous and he always took out insurance from his sports governing body to protect himself and others.

I don’t bury my head in the sand but see no unholy mess.
I’m pleased if you’re sufficiently wealthy to accept a tax rise. I’m pretty well off but unwilling to pay any more tax than I already do.

lixy

Please don't get the Government involved. These charities do an amazing job and HMGov would just mess it up.
I'd rather keep my direct debits going than pay more tax which will end up somewhere else altogether.

This ^

Germanshepherdsmum

I don’t bury my head in the sand but see no unholy mess.
I’m pleased if you’re sufficiently wealthy to accept a tax rise. I’m pretty well off but unwilling to pay any more tax than I already do.

I don’t brag about it, I’d rather my husband hadn’t died. I am willing to pay more tax, and I expect to. In the meantime I contribute to the things that I consider important - like Air Ambulance.

Georgesgran I agree that people should take out insurance, but for small charities that would cause an administrative burden too, so it’s not without issues.

Georgesgran Not all Air Ambulance and RNLI call outs are to people pursuing leisure pursuits. Air Ambulance aattend all kinds of medical emergencies from road accidents, work related accidents and people at home having heart attacks, where they are best reached by air ambulance.

The same with the RNLI, they attend all sea casualties, including professional seamen of all kinds. They also do a lot of inshore rescues. Although I do not think the recent tragedy at Bournemouth had a the inshore lifeboats out. Rip tides do quite often end up in the inshore lifeboat deploying, so should every person who goes to the beach with their children to play take out insurance. In which case it would probably have to be universal, like National Insurance.

On another charity related note, I also think hospices should receive government support

Hospices do receive some Government funding but it falls far short of what we should be paying imo.
They do need to work hard on fundraising.

Thanks for all the comments. I still think the Air Ambulances should be government funded and linked to the NHS, operated by paid staff. Also Mountain rescue should be military, but can see that lifeboats do often need people with experience of their coastal locations. Government should at least contribute to these essential services imo.
To me charity should be for animal rescues, assisting poor people, helping older people maintain their homes or providing little extras. I really don't think lifesaving services should be donation funded and a charity. But then we can't all agree on everything can we.

Accordding to an online source

The RNLI have repeatedly turned down government funding when offered, as it would copromise their independence and leave them open to things like funding cuts, interference in procurement (they currently design and build their own boats and make money sellig them for export, the government would sell off that capability like a shot) and being told to act as police and not just life savers.

or as someone put it more colloquially
if they were government funded they would soon be down to four rowing boats, one in each corner of the UK privately owned by G4S at a cost of £12 million a year each on a PFI deal.

Government can’t pay for everything. We are already more highly taxed than ever before and some of you want to pay more tax, most people don’t. If these charities were to be government funded there would have to be cuts elsewhere because I don’t think that most of the population can afford, or want to pay more taxes. Where would the cuts come? Benefits? Migrants? Pensions? NHS? The usual bleat is the rich should pay more. But there simply aren’t enough rich to make the difference. The money only goes so far. We are a rich nation but not rich enough to pay for everything that is demanded. Only 41% of tax payers are net payers, all the rest take out of the system. Let the charities carry on doing their marvellous work. They do it well, probably better than if it was government funded.