Yesterday I secured and opened a Parliamentary debate on water safety which, as many of you may know, is a topic I’ve been campaigning on for some time.
This topic couldn’t be more timely. During last month’s heatwave, we saw an unprecedented 19 drownings in a single week. And with summer coming and temperatures forecast to surge again later this week, it’s more important than ever that we do what we can to share stories of what can go wrong in the water, and more importanly share the knowledge needed to save lives.
Yesterday, I called on the government to:
🛟 Accept and recognise drowning as a preventable public health issue
Create a single accountable minister for water safety in the way that flooding or fire prevention has
🛟 Convene an urgent cross-government roundtable this month, and at the latest before the school summer holidays, as per requests from the National Water Safety Forum and the Royal Life Saving Society UK – RLSS UK
🛟 Give fire and rescue services the statutory responsibility for responding to water rescue emergencies
🛟 Support a national public awareness campaign on water safety in partnership with charities, schools, local authorities, media and water companies
This was a welcome and timely opportunity to help amplify this issue on a national stage and I’m pleased to see this morning that the Daily Mirror has covered it, alongside the Daily Echo and BBC Solent.
I’m grateful to Emma Hardy MP, Minister for Water and Flooding, for attending and committing to raising these issues with the relevant government departments.
I’m also grateful to Lee Pitcher MP for his support and longstanding campaigning on this important issue.