Petition · Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government

Require local authorities to have a cooling strategy

Open for signatures 42 signatures

What the petition asks

We need all local authorities to have a cooling strategy to deal with increasing heat, causing unnecessary deaths from drowning etc. Each Local Authority (LA) must publish its strategy including things like free swimming on heatwave days, and provision of indoor and outdoor cooling facilities.
Each LA must have a cooling strategy to include free provision of cooling facilities accessible to all. Current access to swimming and other cooling activities is based on ability to pay, which could lead to tragic deaths of young people in particular trying to cool down in increasingly hot weather not of their making. Deaths due to drowning could also be published annually by the LA. We believe mechanisms such as free access to local pools on days above a certain temperature and indoor and outdoor cooling spaces must be introduced. We feel annual death reporting by LAs could encourage action.

Timeline

7 Jul 2026 Petition opened for signatures

Key facts

Signatures 42
Status Open for signatures
Department Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government
Opened 7 Jul 2026

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 26 Jul 2026.