Tribune – news, features and comment from Britain's left-wing magazine

by René Lavanchy

As Cumbria recovers from flooding that left one policeman dead this month, the lead Fire Brigades Union representative for the area has warned Tribune he fears firefighters could perish if the service’s legal position and funding do not change before the next major flood.

The union says that a new law on flood response could leave firefighters in the “ridiculous” situation of having no plans or equipment to respond to major floods.

Ministers have told the FBU that the Flooding and Water Management Bill announced in the Queen’s Speech last week will not introduce a statutory duty on local fire authorities to tackle floods, even though firefighters usually provide the main response.

General secretary Matt Wrack said: “The current legal position could allow individual services to refuse to plan, train or respond to major floods. That is simply ridiculous and there are continuing shortages of basic equipment leaving fire crews going into water with kit designed to protect them in fires but not in flood water.”

Kevin Brown, FBU north-west regional secretary, said: “Because of the lack of statutory direction on flood incidents, we have yet to receive adequate equipment. We genuinely believe that there’s a lack of investment and resources to do the job.”

When major floods hit Central and Southern England in the summer of 2007, many firefighters said that they had to wade around in non-waterproof standard uniforms without flood training.

High volume pumps had to be modified to pump dirty floodwater and there were not enough boats, they complained.

Mr Brown said there had been a “standstill” since then, adding: “The tragedy we saw with the police officer in Cumbria – I really fear that firefighters’ lives could be lost in a similar fashion.”

In Scotland fire authorities already have a statutory duty to fight floods. Scottish FBU officer John Duffy said the requirement was helpful but not the whole solution: “It’s one step. The problem we have had is that the implementation has been patchy. But it’s easier for us to turn round and say ‘you have to do this’ because it’s a statutory duty”.

A spokesperson for the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “The Government believes that the duties already defined in the Civil Contingencies Act provide sufficient clarity on the roles and responsibilities of the emergency services in the event of a flood incident, and are not looking to review the issue of statutory duty in the near future.”