Petition · past parliament
Make flood rescue a statutory duty of Fire & Rescue Services and provide funding
Closed
7,101 signatures
What the petition asks
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.
Timeline
| 10 Dec 2015 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 10 Jun 2016 | Closed to new signatures |
Key facts
Signatures
7,101
Status
Closed
Opened
10 Dec 2015
Closed
10 Jun 2016
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.