Flooding

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has criticised the “shambles” of Boris Johnson’s flooding response, saying that he should be “ashamed” of the government’s failure to plan for floods in the long-term. Funding for fire and rescue services in England has been cut by £141.5m over the four-year local...

Fire and rescue services battling Storm Ciara have had their annual funding cut by £141.5m over the last four years, according to Fire Brigades Union (FBU) analysis of England’s local government funding settlement coming before Parliament today (Wednesday 12 February). The worst storm-hit areas in...

Responding to floodsin the North of England, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has called out under-resourcing of crews and called for a statutory duty for firefighters in England to respond to flooding. Pete Smith, FBU executive council member for Yorkshire and Humberside, said: “Our firefighters are...

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has welcomed the news that fire and rescue services in Wales are to be given a statutory duty to respond to flooding emergencies. It now means England is the only nation in the UK where firefighters do not have a duty to respond to flooding. The new duty will come into...

A minor change in government legislation would improve the fire and rescue service’s response to flooding in England, an FBU report has concluded. In a submission to the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee (EFRA), the union says ministers could award firefighters a statutory duty to...

Firefighters have been deployed to areas of the UK at risk of flooding following severe weather that is set to continue over the weekend. Fire and rescue services are deploying boats, tactical advisers, flood rescue teams, high volume pumps and command units to tackle the flooding. So far, 15 fire...

A group of cross party MPs has called for fire and rescue services in England to be given greater funding to respond to flooding incidents. In a report investigating flood management in England, the environment, food and rural affairs select committee warn that continued pressure on resources could...

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has branded the government’s National Flood Resilience Review, which has been published today, a “wasted opportunity”. Matt Wrack, general secretary of the FBU, said: “The government has failed to examine the full range of resilience activities during floods and failed...