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Emergency Services: Floods

Volume 462: debated on Tuesday 10 July 2007

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions she has had with the Secretary of State for (a) the Home Department and (b) Heath on assessing the capabilities of fire, rescue and emergency services to carry out their duties when flooding has taken place. (148348)

Communities and Local Government has provided specialised high volume pumping equipment to the fire and rescue service which was used in the recent flooding. The number of high volume pumps was sufficient to meet all operational requirements, and leave a cushion of spare capacity.

As is normal procedure following a significant event, Communities and Local Government will be conducting a lessons learned exercise into the fire and rescue services response.

A flooding work stream, led by Department for Food and Rural Affairs, under the cross-government Capabilities Programme, assesses whether local responders have what they need to address the flooding risks we face. This work informs the future development of the national flood capability, and complements that of responders at the local level, who undergo a similar process within their area.