Dear Brother / Sister

PITT REVIEW ON RESPONSE TO FLOODS – FBU CONCERNS ENDORSED

Last week the Government appointed Pitt Review published its report into last year’s floods and the response to them. FBU members will be pleased to note that in respect of a number of important issues, this report endorses many of the concerns raised and recommendations made by the Fire Brigades Union.

Branches should by now have received the FBU report “Lessons of the 2007 floods – the perspective of fire crews” . This report was based on responses from local officials and FBU members directly involved in the response to the floods. It also involved specialist advice on a number of issues such as legal matters relating to the statutory responsibilities of the Fire and Rescue Service. Our report highlights concerns about equipment, training and the ability of the Fire and Rescue Service to plan for such major events when there is no statutory duty to do so.

It is therefore pleasing to note that Pitt has taken on board many of the concerns raised by the Union and submitted by us to his Review Team. Significantly, the Fire Brigades Union is the only Fire Service Union which made a submission to the Pitt Review.

Of particular note are the following findings and recommendations in the Pitt report:

• The Review’s finding that the public and rescuers were put at unnecessary risk by the current lack of clarity over who was responsible for the emergency response to flooding [Par 11.33, p181].

• “It appears that, in the event of another wide-area flooding emergency, those responding would still not necessarily have the right resources or training to respond safely.” [Par 11.60}.

• RECOMMENDATION 39: “The Government should urgently put in place a fully funded national capability for flood rescue, with Fire and Rescue Authorities playing a leading role, underpinned, as necessary, by a statutory duty.”.

• Par 11.58 “the current provision of boats, PPE and training is predominantly for local rescue, not for the greater scale of response required for multiple rescues in wide-area flooding events.”.

• 11.59 “With regard to PPE [Personal Protective Equipment] submissions to the Review appear to mirror those cited in the CFRA’s report in recounting how FRS personnel worked in difficult conditions, often using PPE designed for routine firefighting duties, or for infrequent, short-duration incidents in rivers, lakes and canals rather than an interoperable response. We have heard first-hand how Fire and Rescue personnel deployed in normal firefighting PPE rapidly became wet, cold and risked contamination by flood water.”.

The Union will now press the Government for action on the key issues raised. We have already begun to highlight, through our Parliamentary Group the key issues and will be raising these with local government Minister John Healey at a meeting on 16 th July. The issues identified will also now need to be addressed by local Fire and Rescue Authorities and should be fully considered locally as part of the development Integrated Risk Management Plans. The Executive Council will discuss the wider implications of the Pitt Review at its meeting next week.

Best wishes.

Yours fraternally

MATT WRACK
GENERAL SECRETARY
MW/sll