Inland Water Safety position statement

1. Issue identification

In 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released a seminal global drowning report which identified that drowning is a serious and neglected public health threat that claims the lives of 372,000 people a year worldwide.

Between 2019 and the end of 2023, there were an average of 625 water-related fatalities in the UK each year and, despite fire and rescue services’ (FRS) best efforts, the number of drowning deaths in the UK has remained high. In 2023, the total number of fatalities in water in the UK was 659, which is the highest total figure recorded in 10 years. On average, accidental water deaths in the UK comprise around 39% of all water related fatalities and, in 2023, 63% of accidental water deaths occurred inland in environments such as rivers, canals, reservoirs, fast-moving waterways, and lakes and, in the majority of cases, during everyday or recreational activities. The number of deaths in water is more than two times higher than deaths in fires, with 269 fire-related fatalities recorded in 2023.

Weather has a direct impact on water safety. Increased rainfall, because of climate change, means that certain locations become more hazardous. Many of those who die in our inland water environments had no intention of entering the water, but instead slipped or fell into the water. Summer heatwaves with extreme temperatures are predicted to become more common because of climate change, and there is a direct correlation between higher air temperatures and precipitation rates. More people participate in water sports and water-based activities, or simply enter water to cool down during periods of higher temperatures. It is, therefore, predictable that FRS will need to respond to increasing numbers of inland water safety incidents.

Whilst there is the public perception that FRS are responsible for responding to water rescue incidents and engaging in water safety education (prevention), there is no statutory duty placed on FRS in England to do so. However, statutory duties do exist in Wales. It is a fact that FRS in England do respond to inland water rescue incidents using their existing general powers and resources, however, the lack of a statutory duty limits the investment and resources FRS can allocate, which vary significantly around the UK.

2. NFCC position

There is currently a lack of consistency across the UK in terms of FRS’s statutory responsibilities and resultant abilities to respond to inland water safety incidents, and to undertake supporting prevention work. This risks creating a tiered level of safety depending on where you live in the UK. Creating consistency across the UK by aligning duties for English FRS to match those outlined in the Fire and Rescue Services (Emergencies) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2017 would enable FRS to better coordinate and prepare both nationally and locally, and provide clarity for FRS and the public.

In addition, a statutory duty would also support Fire and Rescue Authorities and Government departments’ ability to plan for business continuity arrangements to prepare for potential periods of industrial action. Without a statutory duty and underpinning financial investment, FRS in England may fall behind colleagues in the devolved administrations, resulting in a lower standard of safety in England in comparison.

It is imperative to also establish an enhanced legal basis for prevention activities and responding to community risks beyond fire to place FRS in a stronger position to protect and secure funding for these activities, rather than competing with other public services. In addition, policy making and benchmarking is hampered by the lack of a lead Government department with accountability for inland water safety prevention, and problematic reporting through the Incident Recording System which does not properly capture water-related incidents. This needs to be addressed.

3. Recommendations

• Government should undertake a public consultation with the fire sector and other relevant agencies on establishing a statutory responsibility for FRS in England for inland water rescue response and prevention. This should mirror the Fire and Rescue Services (Emergencies) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2017 currently in place in Wales, but should also include the requirement to undertake prevention activities.
• Government must provide initial capital investment alongside continuous funding to support any new statutory duty introduced for inland water safety and prevention to ensure that individual FRS can invest appropriately in training, equipment, and resources to respond to water safety incidents and undertake prevention work.
• Government should establish a clear lead department with accountability for water safety prevention. Currently, there is a lack of clarity within Government as to where responsibility for inland water safety and drowning prevention lies, which makes policy change and monitoring challenging. This should be mirrored at local authority level to address local risk effectively.
• Government should update the reporting requirements of the Incident Recording System to more accurately record water-related deaths and injuries, and to ensure a clearer categorisation of incidents. The current category of ‘special service calls’ should be split into specific categories to allow benchmarking and ensure the data reported is clear and transparent.

4. Supporting evidence

Inland water in the UK and the current and anticipated effects of climate change

The UK has over 4000 miles of inland waterways and many inland waters have been transformed from predominantly working environments to mixed use leisure, retail, and residential locations. This means that communities are more likely to use and encounter inland waterways, increasing the risk of drownings. These effects will be amplified by the effects of climate change, as the increasing number of extreme weather events either attracts more people to waterside locations or puts more people at risk due to storms and floods.

In the year ending March 2024, FRS in England performed 2,409 rescues or evacuations from water. This was the highest figure since the online Incident Reporting System was introduced in the 2009/10 reporting year, and represented an increase of 73% compared to the year ending March 2023. Whilst the number of water related incidents each year can vary depending on numerous factors, such as the frequency and severity of storms and heatwaves, the average number of rescues or evacuations from water has steadily increased on average. In the five years ending March 2019, there were 1,028 rescues or evacuations from water on average each year. This compares to an average of 1,740 each year in the following five-year period, a substantial increase of 69%.

Climate projections also indicate that, on average, winters will become wetter and summers will become drier. However, rain that does fall in the summer is likely to be more intense which will impact on the frequency and severity of flash flooding, particularly in urban areas. Increased rainfall will make terrains more hazardous, resulting in the potential for more slips and falls into water.

Hotter summer temperatures are likely to result in more people participating in water-based leisure activities or entering the water to cool down, which will also heighten water safety risks. The summer of 2022 was the hottest on record for the UK, and recreational activities accounted for 58% of accidental drowning fatalities in 2022.

Challenges for FRS in England when responding to water safety incidents

The lack of clear statutory duty means there is no dedicated continuous funding for FRS inland water safety response and prevention work. Whilst FRS in England already respond to inland water safety incidents, their capability to be able to continue to do so effectively will be challenging because of pressures to reduce costs. FRS are facing budget cuts in real terms and must meet productivity and efficiency requirements. This means that FRS may reduce funding for or consider ceasing to provide non-mandatory services as a means of reducing costs, and prioritise response and prevention resources to areas which are underpinned by a statutory duty.

The costs associated with responding to inland water safety incidents include training, equipment, and insurance. It is rare but not unheard of for rescuers to become victims when responding to inland water safety events, which means that specialist training and equipment is vitally important. As well as the costs associated with incident response, funding must also be invested into FRS prevention activities, including public awareness and education campaigns. Improved reporting requirements will enable prevention activities to be more targeted. For example, accidental fatalities in water are much more common amongst males who accounted for 83% of accidental water fatalities in 2023.

Any statutory duty must reflect the existing responsibilities of water sources’ / sites’ owners and operators. A statutory role for FRS in terms of response and prevention messaging, should not be used as a pretext to transfer existing responsibilities and liabilities to FRS. A FRS prevention role should mirror the activities currently undertaken in relation to road safety, and any Government consultation on introducing a statutory duty should consider the continued responsibilities of other parties alongside proposed FRS duties.

Furthermore, a lack of clear statutory duty results in a lack of clarity on where responder responsibility lies. Often several agencies will attend a water safety incident and whilst a collaborative cross-agency response is in most, if not all, cases needed, this has implications for incident response coordination which could result in unnecessary delays to rescue. As there is no clear lead or primary responder, there may be confusion about each agency’s responsibilities on scene at an incident.

National Context

Both Scottish FRS and Northern Ireland FRS have statutory responsibilities to rescue people trapped, or likely to become trapped, by water and protect them from serious harm, however, these responsibilities are limited to serious flooding events. Welsh FRS have a wider ranging statutory responsibility to make provisions, as far as it is reasonable, to rescue people or protect them from serious harm in the event of an emergency involving flooding, as well as rescue people in the event of an emergency involving inland water. No similar requirements are placed on English FRS.

In the Welsh Government consultation on proposals to introduce a statutory duty on FRS in Wales to respond to flooding and other water-related emergencies, it was noted that, due to pressure to reduce costs, some FRS may cease to provide non-mandatory services as a means to reduce costs.

The legislative provisions in the devolved nations have enabled effective and coordinated planning to take place alongside investment in boats, training, and personal protective equipment. They have allowed FRS to review and ensure they have enough professionally trained firefighters available to tackle flood related emergencies and strengthen pre-planning and prevention related messages in conjunction with Local Resilience Forums, including post incident recovery work.

In contrast, the lack of a statutory footing to respond to inland water safety incidents where a life risk exists in England means that it is harder to make business cases for investing FRS time and resources into flooding response when duties with a statutory footing take precedence.

References

1. World Health Organisation, Global report on drowning: preventing a leading killer.
2. National Water Safety Forum, Water Incident Database UK (WAID) 2023 Summary.
3. National Water Safety Forum, WAID 2023 Fatalities Data Tables.
4. National Water Safety Forum, WAID 2022 Summary.
5. Home Office, Fire and Rescue Incident Statistics for England, data tables FIRE0502 and FIRE0902.
6. Maritime and Coastguard Agency, Inland waterways and categorisation of waters.
7. Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, Managing Safety at Inland Waters.
8. Met Office, UK and Global extreme events – Heavy rainfall and floods.
9. The Fire (Additional Function) (Scotland) Order 2005.
10. The Fire and Rescue Services (Emergencies) Order (Northern Ireland) 2011.
11. The Fire and Rescue Services (Emergencies) (Wales) (Amendment) Order 2017.
12. Welsh Government, Consultation on Proposals to Introduce a Statutory Duty on Fire and Rescue Authorities in Wales to respond to Flooding and Other Water-Related Emergencies.