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Flood and Water Management Bill

It is the duty of the fire and rescue authorities to provide that equipment, those skills and the capacity for the fire and rescue services to react to flooding, just as they are expected to respond to fires and vehicle accidents. I shall not labour the point, but in recent history we have some good examples of fire and rescue services being employed to their full capacity in Gloucestershire, Sheffield, and more recently Cumbria. It is clear that although that may not be normal—in these days of climate change, we are not quite sure what normality means—it is an important part of the fire and rescue services' precautionary provision. That is not just local provision. In episodes of flooding such as those in Cumbria and Gloucestershire, fire and rescue services are brought in from many other brigades. Such is the scale of the disaster that that level of response is needed. My hon. Friends and I seek to put into the Bill what Pitt refers to throughout the report. The key part of the report is recommendation 39, which states:""The Government should urgently put in place a fully funded national capability for flood rescue with Fire and Rescue Authorities playing a leading role, underpinned as necessary by a statutory duty."" One could say that that was slightly equivocal, but I take it to be, as near as dammit, a statement that there should be a statutory duty. Pitt subsequently argued:""It is equally a matter of the fundamental principles underpinning this Review. . . which is to give clear and unambiguous direction—giving certainty where there is doubt—that the systems currently in place, or those otherwise proposed, will provide the desired outcome. We must be clear about who does what to ensure that people and organisations are held to account, structures are simple and outcomes are more certain."" In the recent Cumbrian disasters, as we know, the fire and rescue services were to the fore. I do not think it would be speaking out of turn to say that in discussions that I have had with my hon. Friend the Minister, that is held up as a good example of integrated working. I have no reason to deny that, although we have not yet had the wash-up—sorry about the pun—from those disasters to see what was learned and what could be done differently. From talking to some of the firefighters who were involved in the Cumbrian episode, I understand that there were issues concerning equipment and how they were to get access to it. I shall give a couple of examples. In the Cumbrian floods in November 2009, according to the current edition of Firefighter, there were 64 sets of swiftwater rescue personal protective equipment. When the floods first broke, a Whitehaven crew fully trained in swiftwater rescue could not carry out its duties: in the safety-critical period when the floods first hit, there were no dry suits for them to wear. Crews who had not been trained for water rescue had to put on the dry suits that were available and take to the water, leaving the SWR-trained crew high and dry. In the great scheme of things, that does not seem to be an issue on which we should legislate, but as I and others have said, this is life and death stuff. In a sense, it is more important than legislation. It is about what people do in a crisis, when they know that they have to get the equipment and the right people in place, and exercise their judgment about how to operate safely for themselves and have the greatest impact on those whom they are there to save and rescue. I hope my hon. Friend understands that this is not necessarily the only chance to get the legislation right. There is a germ of truth in what the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) says when she asks whether this is the appropriate place to try to change to law. I am open to suggestions on that subject, but we should not miss the opportunity to clarify the role of the fire and rescue services. We know that episodes of flooding occur all too frequently. The role of the fire and rescue services is clearly central to what happens in such emergencies. We must ensure that the fire and rescue services are properly equipped and trained and have the capacity to operate in the most effective manner. Making it a duty to ensure that would be the best way of achieving it. Those who saw what happened in Gloucestershire have nothing but admiration for people who undertook the most dangerous jobs. My son-in-law is a retained firefighter, so I have to be a bit careful. I am not declaring an interest. Firefighters are the people who save lives and have to make the judgment calls that some of us talk about but are never required to make. I hope that my hon. Friend the Minister will listen to what my hon. Friend the Member for Hayes and Harlington (John McDonnell) might say about ways forward, if he is called to speak. This is a serious subject, and I hope it will be treated seriously by the Government. As we have a listening Minister who has performed admirably in improving the Bill, I hope that our new clause will be another change that we can get into statute, making a good Bill even better.