Closed petition Make flood rescue a statutory duty of Fire & Rescue Services and provide funding

Closed on 10 June 2016

At present, there is no formal expectation for fire and rescue services to attend floods in England and Wales. A statutory duty for them to do would help fire and rescue services, other emergency services and the government as a whole to plan effectively and reduce risk to life and property.

An increasing amount of time is spent by fire crews dealing with flooding with 70% of fire & rescue services involved in the aftermath of UK floods 2013-14. 6,000 firefighter posts have been lost since 2007, seriously undermining the service’s ability to deal with floods, fires & other incidents. There has been a lack of investment in flood defences. Fire & rescue services need to be properly resourced, with sufficient staff & equipment to deal with more frequent flooding due to global warming.