Water Safety Education

Thursday 19th June 2025 Commons Chamber

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

I call Darren Paffey to move the motion.

15:07

[Darren Paffey (Southampton Itchen) (Lab) [R]]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered water safety education.

May I begin by welcoming you to your place, Mr Deputy Speaker? I thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting me the opportunity to secure this debate and all hon. Members who supported the application for it. The debate is particularly poignant because this week we mark the Royal Life Saving Society’s national Drowning Prevention Week. It is a timely moment to speak not just of tragedy, but of our responsibility and of opportunity.

Every year, over 300 people in this country drown, many of them just metres from safety. In the last three years alone, almost 150 children have lost their lives by drowning. That is the equivalent of five full classrooms of young people, their futures snatched away by accidents that in so many cases were preventable. As an island nation with coastlines, rivers, lakes and canals, we are surrounded by water. It is my privilege to represent the people of Southampton Itchen, a coastal constituency where we live alongside the River Itchen, Weston shore and Ocean Village marina, and the major port alongside Southampton water. The water makes our city what it is, but with that comes risk. So today I ask this House: are we doing enough to prepare our children for the island nation they are growing up in? The problem is clear and stark. Since 2020, over 1,700 people have drowned in the UK. Disturbingly, during that same period, the number of drowning deaths has doubled, with more than half these tragedies occurring in open water.

The national curriculum does currently require some practical training. Primary-age children should be able to swim 25 metres, use a range of strokes and demonstrate self-rescue techniques. But if that alone were enough, we would not be here today debating this issue under the shadow of so many lost lives. The policy on the national curriculum is, of course, welcome, but a policy is only as good as the difference it makes—so how effective is it? A Sport England report estimates that just 74% of children now leave school able to swim 25 metres. That is down since before the pandemic. The gap is one not just of ability either, but of social class. Only 35% of children from low-income families can swim 25 metres; compare that to 76% of children from more affluent backgrounds. The result is that children from the most deprived areas are twice as likely to drown.

[Helena Dollimore (Hastings and Rye) (Lab/Co-op)]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and for raising the important issue of teaching children to swim. Like me, he represents a coastal community. Two years ago in Hastings and Rye, the Silverdale primary school pool closed. Many children and parents miss that facility, and hundreds of parents have joined me in supporting the campaign to get the school pool at Silverdale back open. Does he agree that we need an increase in school swimming lessons and facilities, not their rolling back?

[Darren Paffey]

I thank my hon. Friend for making that salient point. I have no doubt that occurrences like the one we have heard about in her constituency are part of the reason why fewer children are now able to swim. I wish her every success in her campaign.

[Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)]

I thank my constituency neighbour for giving way. I want to make a similar point to the hon. Member for Hastings and Rye (Helena Dollimore). A number of schools in my constituency have closed their pools over the past 20 years. When I grew up in Lewisham, I had access to a school pool. Does he agree that we need to work together on national policy to ensure that, although some school pools will still close, our young people can access their local leisure facilities at a discounted rate, through local government?

[Darren Paffey]

I thank my constituency neighbour for making that point. There is a great need to work in partnership. We simply do not have as many pools as we used to, be they local authority-run or within schools themselves, but we should be working towards either increasing the number where possible or sharing these vital resources in our communities.

Added to those inequalities, there are ethnic inequalities. Statistically, black children are three times more likely to drown than white children. Water safety education cannot be left to chance or to postcode. It is a vital provision for every part of an island nation such as ours and should not depend on the lottery of family income, school funding or private access to lessons.

Let me tell the House about Joe Abbess. Joe, from Sholing in Southampton, was a bright, responsible and fit 17-year-old young man. He was an ambitious trainee chef at the local college and worked part-time at Southampton football club. He was the kind of teenager that any parent would be proud of—someone who followed the rules and led by example. He was a caring and loyal friend, who was well known in his friendship group as the “dad” figure. On 31 May 2023, Joe and his friends went for a day at Bournemouth beach. They were swimming waist high in the sea as Joe, who was a strong swimmer, had done many, many times before. They were between the safety flags, in full view of lifeguards. But in an instant, a rip current turned their fun into tragedy. The water was very suddenly over their heads. Joe got into difficulty and was pulled further out into the water before disappearing beneath it. Eleven people were rescued from the water that day because of that rip current, and I commend the emergency services for their actions. However, tragically, Joe and 12-year-old Sunnah Khan did not survive.

The coroner reported that it was an accident—a devastating and fatal act of nature. However, the coroner also reported that rip currents can occur anywhere along the UK coastline at any time. How many people, especially children, know that? How many Members in this Chamber would understand, recognise and rightly respond to a rip current? On sunny days such as those we are enjoying at the moment, many will rightly want to enjoy our rivers and beaches. We must do everything we can to ensure that they can do so safely.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I commend the hon. Gentleman for securing this debate. He is right to bring up the issue of water safety education. Sometimes, even strong swimmers can unfortunately get into difficulties. Does he feel there is a role for Education Ministers and local councils to identify where the problems are, whether they are in the seas surrounding the United Kingdom or in our lakes? Unfortunately, some people have jumped into the lakes in my constituency without knowing there were obstructions in the water, to give one example. Does the hon. Gentleman feel that there should be greater partnership work between the Department and councils to identify those problems, so that those who go swimming know exactly what to watch out for?

[Darren Paffey]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for the very relevant point he makes. I will come on to the issue of how we can ensure that education is locally targeted. Each of the situations we face in our constituencies will be that little bit different, so it is important that on top of a compulsory expectation there are locally targeted campaigns.

We would not let someone drive a car without first passing their theory test, so why do not we comprehensively and consistently teach our children about water safety before they enter the water to have fun? This is not about taking away that fun; it is about being aware of the hidden threats, and therefore having the power to do something about it.

I pay tribute to Joe’s mother, Vanessa Abbess, who I am pleased is present in the Gallery today. Ness has become a tireless campaigner, sending hundreds of letters to local schools, working with the Royal Life Saving Society and the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and pushing for improved signage in Bournemouth. She brought her powerful story to Parliament earlier this week, when we established the all-party parliamentary group on water safety education. Ness has done all that in the hope that no other family should suffer as the Abbess family has.

The coroner’s report was submitted to the Secretary of State in October last year. The coroner said:

“An ideal opportunity to warn and inform all members of the public would be through educating children of the risks. The lack of providing education to children around these risks through the national classroom curriculum could lead to future deaths.”

The report also stated that

“urgent action should be taken to prevent future deaths”

and that the Department for Education has

“the power to take such action.”

I warmly welcome the Secretary of State’s response to the coroner’s report, in which she committed to

“look carefully at what more can be done to support schools to provide water safety education to all pupils,”

and to

“give full consideration to including a requirement that all pupils should be taught about water safety, including the water safety code.”

I urge the Government today to uphold that commitment and to go further.

As has become clear, we need to do more than just teach swimming. As hon. Members have highlighted, access to pools is uneven, lessons vary in quality and duration, and too many children—especially in deprived or minority communities—are being left behind. The Department for Education states:

“All pupils should be taught to swim and how to be safe in and around water”.

Well, yes, they should, but is saying they “should” really enough? At this point, I do not believe so—we can and we must go further. We need to mandate classroom-based water safety education in every school.

I pay tribute to many people who have campaigned on this before, including Rebecca Ramsay from Chorley, who secured some concessions under the previous Government. However, she has recently said that changes are not coming quickly enough. For her son, Dylan, for Joe, for Sunnah and for too many others, I ask the Government to tackle this issue with the urgency that it deserves. The Royal Life Saving Society has already created high-quality classroom resources that are cost-effective and proven to improve children’s understanding and confidence around water. It reaches everyone—through its Water Smart Schools’ campaign, its Splash Safety at Your Pad campaign, and its lifesaving training, accreditation and awards—regardless of background or access to swimming pools. These resources offer a lesson for life. Let us not leave it to chance; let us bring those resources into the heart of our curriculum.

I look forward to the Minister’s response. Although I recognise that her responsibilities lie within education, included in the recommendations are some wider points that I ask her to convey back to Government. First, there is currently no Minister for water safety or drowning prevention in the UK despite having Ministers for fire safety, road safety and other preventable public dangers, and despite Scotland and Wales having dedicated water safety ministerial roles. Why does England not have such a role? The National Water Safety Forum and the World Health Organisation have both urged the UK Government to appoint such Ministers, and I echo that call today. The coroner noted that one in four children still does not receive any swimming education, and that number has almost certainly worsened since the pandemic.

Secondly, I ask the Government to commit to a national swimming and water safety strategy, based on up-to-date evidence about children’s access across this country to swimming lessons and water safety education. Thirdly, my major request is that when the national curriculum is updated, following the current review, and is then taught in every school as mandated in the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, will the Government use that opportunity to enshrine water safety as a core, compulsory part of every child’s education? The point of the curriculum is not just to pass exams; it is to prepare our young people for life. If Labour’s mission is to break down barriers to opportunity, here is just about the greatest opportunity that we can offer them: the opportunity to learn and to live.

[Caroline Voaden (South Devon) (LD)]

Does the hon. Member agree that there is more to this than just teaching children to swim? Hope Cove Life Boat in my constituency saves about 60 people from drowning every year, and many of them have been swept out to sea because of wind and tides. Understanding the nature of the sea and how dangerous it can be is crucial. It is not just about knowing how to swim, but about knowing how to survive at sea.

[Darren Paffey]

I fully agree with the hon. Lady. As I commended the emergency services that rushed to the scene on that fateful day in Bournemouth, I commend the project that she has mentioned in her constituency.

In closing, no child should drown simply because they were not taught how to recognise the dangers. It is essential to teach children how to swim, yes, but it is not enough; we must teach them how to survive in different contexts. The coroner’s warning was chilling in its clarity:

“Further deaths will occur unless action is taken.”

So today I ask the Government please to act now and make classroom-based water safety education a compulsory part of the national curriculum, not an optional extra, not a postcode lottery, but a guaranteed lifesaving entitlement for every child in every school, in every constituency, in every part of the country. The time to act is now, before any more lives are lost.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Deputy Speaker (Sir Roger Gale)]

Order. This is a very important subject. There are some 14 Members at least who wish to contribute to the debate. Allowing eight minutes each for the wind-ups and a couple of minutes for the hon. Gentleman who has just spoken, I think we are looking at a time limit of about five minutes each. I will not set a formal time limit at the moment, but if hon. Members try to stick to that, we should get everybody in.

15:24

[Saqib Bhatti (Meriden and Solihull East) (Con)]

I take your steer on that, Mr Deputy Speaker. I thank the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this debate, and I declare an interest as a new vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on water safety.

Members will know that there will always be moments in our careers that will forever be etched in our memories. We can only hope that they are moments of joy, but sadly I am here to talk about a moment of tragedy. That moment was on 11 December 2022, which I will always remember. This moment of great tragedy impacted my constituents in Meriden and Solihull East. On that day, four young boys were playing near Babbs Mill Lake, which had been iced over. They were: Finlay Butler, eight years old; Samuel Butler, his brother, six years old; Thomas Stewart, 11 years old; and Jack Johnson, 10 years old. They were playing near the ice, feeding ducks. As the coroner later reported, Jack was with one group, and Finlay, Sam and Thomas were playing together with another group.

One of the boys decided to go on to the ice. It was Finlay who fell in first, and then Thomas and Jack tried to help. Sadly, nobody saw Samuel fall in. The boys were shouting for help, but the witnesses could not reach them in time. I pay tribute to the emergency services, who reached the location within 11 minutes. They ignored their own safety advice, taking off their body armour and taking out their batons, and they used their fists to try to break through the ice. One officer who jumped in was neck-deep in the water and had to be treated for cold water shock. As the coroner and the police reported, any moment longer and we could have had another tragedy on our hands.

The water was too deep, and sadly none of the boys survived. What strikes me is the suddenness of this tragedy. That is why I am talking about it today. I suppose all tragedies are sudden, but this was 11 December, two weeks before Christmas. I am not sure any of us can fathom what the parents of the two brothers or the families of the others went through, and I do not know whether they will ever be able to come to terms with it.

What happened is particularly important to my communities in north Solihull, because in Kingshurst, Fordbridge and Smith’s Wood, which used to be in my constituency, the community came together. I remember going to the vigils and tributes in the week after. These boys were massively central to their school communities and the wider community, and I could see how much pain and hurt they were going through. Everyone came together, and the collective grief, pain and sadness has stayed with me. I am reminded of it every year, because sadly every Christmas I still hear of children playing on the lake when it is iced over. As the coroner reported, the temperature that day was around 5°C. I remember where I was, and it felt a lot colder. The water was a lot colder than 5°C.

The hon. Member for Southampton Itchen talked about education being key, and I agree with all the requests he made. I want to put on record that I will work very closely with him on this, because I believe it to be a cross-party issue—it is certainly not a partisan issue. Cold water shock is something that I knew very little about. The coroner said that within minutes the boys would have suffered fatal brain damage, which is what happened.

When the tragedy happened, I remember coming to the House having done lots of media interviews. I remember after one interview, when the story broke that one of the children had just perished, Members across the House came to pay tribute to the communities in north Solihull. That included the Prime Minister, who within minutes of the story breaking had called me to find out whether there was anything that could be done. He also paid tribute to the communities at Prime Minister’s questions.

For me this is a really personal debate, because I see the pain when people in Solihull talk about this incident. There is not anyone in the midlands, or across the country, who when I talk to them about the four children does not remember what happened. When I was talking to Members about why I would be speaking today and about those four lads who passed away in Solihull, it was clear that everyone remembers what happened.

Ultimately, this issue comes down to education. I wrote to Sir Nick Gibb in the previous Government and spoke to him about trying to update the curriculum, but sadly we were not able to get that done. I wrote to the Education Secretary a few months ago and did not get a response, so I hope the Minister can give me some indication of action in this area—or perhaps the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen when he winds up can do so. This issue is so important, and I know that the Minister agrees. I am really keen to ensure that we get the curriculum changed, so on behalf of my families in north Solihull and the families of Finlay, Sam, Jack and Thomas, will the Minister please work to ensure that we avoid these tragedies in future?

15:29

[Anneliese Dodds (Oxford East) (Lab/Co-op)]

I welcome you to your place, Mr Deputy Speaker. I am very grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this debate.

Water safety education is particularly important for my constituency of Oxford East, for several reasons. We have many bodies of water in Oxford, which can be very cold, as in many other constituencies, because of hidden depths; we also have, in many cases, poor access for rescue vehicles; and many of those bodies of water contain submerged obstacles. We also have in Oxford a young population that is exuberant and fun-loving. Of course that is a wonderful thing, but celebrations in my city too often turn to tragedy, as we saw most recently with promising student Wesley Akum-Ojong. I regrettably cannot mention every tragic case from Oxford, but I mention him because I understand that he had aspired to become Britain’s youngest Prime Minister, and I have to say that, judging by his many achievements, I do not think it would have been long before he would have been elbowing us out of the way. He was an incredible young man. I pay tribute to him, and to his friends and family, and to all those who have lost loved ones in my city from drowning.

Oxford is also highly prone to flooding, and it is often difficult for people to assess how deep floodwater is and where obstacles are submerged. Better education about the potential dangers of the water is imperative. It needs to be part of a broader suite of initiatives, from effective signage to access to supervised swimming, like Oxford city council’s free swimming programme for under-16s, and—where required and feasible—physical restrictions.

There is in my city—I am sure this applies in other constituencies represented here—a vigorous debate over the rights of wild swimmers to access waterways that have been deemed to be unsafe. I understand wild swimmers’ contention that they will often be swimming together, that they do not tend to dive into the water, and that they are experienced swimmers; but they are, of course, still at risk, including from effluent discharges and algal blooms. In any case, I would urge anyone considering wild swimming to consult the Environment Agency’s information on water quality, and above all, to educate themselves about the dangers of the water, even if they think they are experienced. Because no matter how experienced a swimmer is, if they are in unsupervised waterways with the water temperature below 16° they could experience cold water shock, or the other hazards I mentioned.

The chair of the National Water Safety Forum has said that

“drowning can occur anywhere and to anyone”.

So far, in Oxford, we have seen particular efforts from the Oxfordshire fire and rescue service to educate people about the dangers of the water. That has been really positive, along with the water safety code, and simplified messages such as, “Call, tell, throw” and “Float to Live”. My hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen spoke passionately about ensuring that our schools are always reinforcing that message. As he said, water safety and swimming are mandatory within PE in primary school, but that is subject to problems of access and disparities related to social class and ethnicity.

Becky Francis’s curriculum and assessment review for the Government has shown that it is difficult for many schools to prioritise PE because of the accumulated challenges that they face; there is a particular issue at key stage 4. I hope that, as she works towards the full review, she can look at the specific issue of water safety in more detail. I also hope that the Government will consider it carefully—I know that the Minister would want to be doing that—as they are reviewing the relationships, sex and health education draft statutory guidance. I know that organisations in Oxford are really keen about that, so that they can have a joined-up approach with local schools, with better signage information and so on.

Finally, it is really important, in undertaking this work, that wherever possible young people themselves are included in the conversation, because they know what will be most effective, a lot of the time, with their peers. I believe that one of the most effective measures in my city is a striking memorial painted to Hussain Mohammed, a 15-year-old who died after jumping from Donnington bridge in 2012. Very sadly, he is not the only person to die from that cause. Thirteen years later, that bridge still features the touching mural that reminds people of Hussain and hopefully recalls the need to stay water-safe.

15:34

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

I thank the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this important debate today. As we have heard, every year in the UK, more than 200 lives are lost to accidental drowning. In fact, it claims more lives each year in the UK than house fires or cycling accidents. That must be a wake-up call.

We have an opportunity and a responsibility in this House today to bring those numbers down. The problem is as clear as it is urgent: too many people grow up without being taught how to stay safe around water. Swimming must be a core life skill, as we have heard, and yet, according to the Royal Life Saving Society UK, one in three children leave primary school unable to swim properly. That statistic should concern us all. Of course, children from the most disadvantaged backgrounds are most likely to miss out. In other words, those at greatest risk are the least protected.

This is not just about learning to swim, although that is essential; it is about knowing what to do when things go wrong—when someone panics, when cold water shock sets in and when every second counts. Every summer, every bank holiday and every heatwave, like this week, the risk increases. Rivers, lakes, canals and coastlines become magnets for young people and far too often, lives are lost.

My constituency of Esher and Walton has seen three tragic drowning deaths in the past four years. Two of them occurred during the fierce heat of the summer of 2022—a heartbreaking testament to the risks that rise with each heatwave. These are tragedies with unimaginable pain for the families and profound effects for schools, emergency services and the wider community. As a river- based constituency, we owe it to our residents, visitors and local businesses to prioritise water safety. The risks are all around us, particularly this week. The Thames threads through our towns, the River Mole runs through our parks, and reservoirs sit at the heart of our communities. Addressing the root causes is so important.

One of my constituents, Nell Hickman, took up the cause by leading a local water safety campaign along a stretch of the Thames between Thames Ditton and Hampton Court, which I have heard referred to by school children as the Barbados of south-west London. Determined to prevent further tragedies, Nell partnered with the RNLI, Elmbridge borough council and other stakeholders. Together, they installed safety signage and emergency throwlines. They also expanded water safety training, advising swimmers to stay parallel to the riverbank instead of swimming across the River Thames. That is a powerful example of community-led action, backed by the right support, saving lives.

There is more that we can do. The RNLI plays a vital role in my constituency and I pay tribute to its tireless work. Some schools in Esher and Walton are already leading the way by teaching key life skills through personal, social, health and economic education and citizenship. However, we must do more to ensure that water safety is embedded in our children’s education, especially in areas such as mine, with rivers and open waters.

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

I am greatly pleased that this debate is taking place. In my constituency and within Somerset and North Somerset—the whole of Somerset—there are 8,463 miles of rivers, reans and streams which, from Somerset, would take us as far as Singapore. That level of water coverage presents a danger not only for those who swim and need to be taught to swim, but for young people, who should understand very clearly what to do should the vehicle in which they are travelling goes into water. There are specific rules around how to save ourselves if the car or vehicle we are in goes into water. Does my hon. Friend have a comment about that?

[Monica Harding]

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing attention to vehicles going into the water. In my constituency, the Thames provides our border with London, so it stretches along the entire constituency, and of course cars could go into the river.

In areas like ours where rivers and open water are a daily part of life, it is essential that our children are taught how to be safe in the water. Would the Minister consider ensuring that water safety is integrated into the secondary school curriculum, so that every young person leaves school equipped with these essential skills for their safety? It is now—in a heatwave when GCSEs and A levels have just finished—that our children are most at risk. I know that because this week I sensed that my 16-year-old after finishing his GCSEs was going to do just that, and it took all my parental bribery, frankly, to ensure that he did not.

Organisations like the Royal Life Saving Society, alongside the RNLI, provide expert guidance, from recognising dangerous currents and raising awareness of cold water shock to assisting people in distress in the river. By working with those partners, we can build a generation that is not only confident in the water, but capable of saving lives. These are not just water safety tools; they are universal lifesaving skills that can make all the difference in emergencies of all kinds.

Countries like Australia rightly treat water safety as a national priority. Children grow up surrounded by water there, so they are taught how to navigate it, just as our children are taught to wear seatbelts and how to cross the road. The UK, an island nation flowing with rivers, should be no different. Let us work towards a future where fewer families face heartbreak and finally make water safety a priority.

15:40

[Rebecca Long Bailey (Salford) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) and the Backbench Business Committee for securing this important debate. I also thank Michael Wardle, who is a Royal Life Saving Society UK lifeguard, and his team at the Helly Hansen watersports centre in Salford for their dedication to saving lives in Salford. I had the pleasure of meeting them, and their passion for educating about water safety was inspiring.

In Salford Quays, countless lives have tragically been lost as young people head to the water, unaware of the dangers within. It is a ship canal, so it is incredibly deep and littered with underwater obstacles. The area is now monitored by CCTV cameras and joint council and police patrols in hot weather. Under-18s caught jumping from bridges or illegally swimming will receive a police warning, and adults will be issued with a fixed penalty notice. But that still does not stop people crowding to the quays on days like today, looking to cool off or have fun with their friends. The sad thing is there are supervised open swimming areas in the quays—areas that can offer a safer swimming environment, but they are only open at limited times and are not free, which bars too many young people from them. There is one simple thing that the Government could do to ensure that my constituents are safe, and that would be to provide just a little funding to open up these supervised lifeguarded swim areas to the public for free and for longer during the summer months. That way no young person is tempted to risk their life in dangerous areas when they can have full access to a supervised one.

Secondly, as we have heard, water safety education is critical. While it is a statutory requirement that children are able to swim 25 metres by the time they reach year 7, evidence sadly suggests that the number of children receiving swimming lessons is declining. In 2024, the Royal Life Saving Society estimated that over 140,000 children left primary school without these vital lifesaving skills. There are also inequalities in those statistics. Staggeringly, Sport England found that 50.4% of children from low-income families could swim 25 metres in year 7, compared with 85.8% of high-income families. Barriers to the statutory provision include limited pool access, transportation costs, logistics, staff shortages and cultural and religious barriers. It is critical that the Government secure water safety education on the national curriculum for England as a statutory requirement, but also that they ensure schools are provided with dedicated ringfenced budgets so they can meet that requirement.

Thirdly, I would like to draw attention to a quite staggering fact. I met my local fire service in Salford recently and learnt of the amazing work its dedicated firefighters do to save lives and keep us safe. I met the water response team, which I thought—naively, like much of the general public—was just part of its service. It is not. They do it because they are good people, not because they are funded to or required to. While there is a public perception that the fire and rescue service is responsible for responding to water rescue incidents and engaging in water safety education and prevention, there is no statutory duty on it in England to do so. However, statutory duties do exist in Wales.

The fire and rescue service responds to 999 calls and inland water rescue incidents using its existing general powers and resources. It scrimps and saves from existing budgets to try to resource the lifesaving equipment it needs, rather than that being allocated. As a result, the resource and the coverage are patchy, and firefighters often train in water safety on their own time.

I call on the Government to urgently adopt the National Fire Chiefs Council recommendations on this issue: to consult on establishing a statutory responsibility in England for inland water rescue response and prevention; to provide capital alongside continuous funding to support any new statutory duty introduced; to establish a clear lead Department with accountability for water safety prevention, mirrored at local authority level; and to update the reporting requirements of the incident recording system to more accurately record water-related deaths and injuries.

To conclude, no parent should ever receive that phone call and no person should ever needlessly lose their lives when the asks on Government are so simple. I hope the Government will do all they can to urgently implement the measures that I and others have outlined.

14:13

[Paul Holmes (Hamble Valley) (Con)]

It is good to see you in the Chair, Sir Roger. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on securing the debate—he genuinely is an hon. Friend. We served together on Southampton city council, we have both been education lead members, and now we are constituency neighbours. I know that he consistently stands up for the great people of the great city of Southampton, and in particular the constituents he has mentioned today. I pay tribute to Joe’s mum for the work she has already done and the work she will do in future to make sure we lose fewer people on our waterways across the country.

Although the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen and I share Southampton Water, which is the busiest part of the waterways around and into Southampton, I also have in my constituency the entirety of the River Hamble, which comes off Southampton Water. The River Hamble is internationally known as one of the most difficult rivers to navigate for our sailing and boating community. It is known as an international sailing hub but also as one of the most difficult tidal waterways to navigate across the world.

We saw that, unfortunately, in 2020, early in my career here as the Member of Parliament for Eastleigh, which is in the same area. Emily Lewis, who was on a fast boat in the Solent, was tragically killed after being catapulted out of it when it hit Netley buoy. She was travelling at 44 mph, and two charges were eventually made of manslaughter and failure to ensure safe navigation against the person who chartered the boat.

The hon. Member for Southampton Itchen is absolutely right that we need to have water safety education. I put it to the House and the Minister that we also need to have proper education for not only those who enter the water through our seasides, lakes and rivers, but also people who use the water on a daily basis. As I said, we have the whole of the River Hamble in the constituency of Hamble Valley, and a vast array of people use our rivers and Southampton Water—sailors, motorboaters, kayakers, paddleboarders and rowers. Many people use the river, as they should be able to, because that is intrinsic to the identity of those who grow up and live in my constituency. Given the hot weather this weekend, I intend to go out on the Hamble on Saturday to kayak, but I am aware of the intrinsic dangers of a river such as the Hamble. It is vital, as the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen said, that we educate from a very early age.

I also want to outline and make colleagues aware of the role of our independent lifeboats. Hamble lifeboat in my constituency has already been called out over 60 times this year. We must raise awareness of these services, because they play a very important educational role for many people in our constituencies. I was delighted to be a founding member of the National Independent Lifeboat Association, which looks after our independent lifeboats, alongside our former colleague Anthony Mangnall, who was the Member for Totnes. I encourage all Members who represent areas with independent lifeboats to get in touch with NILA and to raise awareness of water safety.

The hon. Member for Southampton Itchen highlighted the key variations in access to swimming pools and water education. As I indicated in my intervention, we will both be aware, from our time leading the education system in Southampton, of the number of schools there that have had closures. This is not a political point at all, because we have both been in control of the Administration, and we have had national Governments of different colours, but he will be aware of a reduction in funding for our education system from local authorities, whereby many schools have had to close their pools.

Partnerships that allow kids to be taken to local leisure centres for school lessons have been reduced as well. I remember being a young person—I used to be young once—growing up in Lewisham. The council school bus would come and take me to Lewisham swimming baths every week for a two-hour swimming lesson. That has diminished, and it is vital that we work on a cross-party basis to get swimming lessons and water education delivered to people across the UK.

As I said, this is not just about young people. A brief story: a couple of summers ago, I was out on my kayak when I saw an older gentleman clinging to a kayak in very cold water. He had lost his energy and would have died that day, had I and my friend Jerry not gone past and rescued him. He was not wearing a life preserver, he was very cold, and he was running out of energy, clinging to his kayak. We managed to take him out of the water and save him, and get him medical attention. Frustratingly, such things still happen, which is why any measures taken forward by the Minister need to be attentive to not only young people but all users of the rivers and waterways across the UK.

I congratulate the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen and all Members who will speak in today’s debate. He has my commitment, alongside that of my hon. Friend the Member for Meriden and Solihull East (Saqib Bhatti) and, I am sure, the shadow Minister, that this is a cross-party issue that we all need to work on. I wish the hon. Member well in his endeavours.

15:50

[James Asser (West Ham and Beckton) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing the debate, and for all the extremely important work that he is doing on this issue. I extend my compliments to his constituent in the Gallery, who we heard at the APPG earlier in the week. Given the circumstances, her campaign is extremely brave, and her words were very inspiring, so I wanted to put my tribute to her on the record too.

I come to this debate because of a situation that occurred within my constituency of West Ham and Beckton very recently, which received quite a lot of press publicity. I do not intend to go into the details—it is still a very fresh event—but I lost an 11-year-old constituent in the River Thames earlier in the spring. That was a huge trauma for her family, and I put on the record—I know the whole House will share in this— my deepest condolences to them. I also extend my congratulations and thanks to the emergency services, search and rescue, and actually local people who stepped in to try to help on that occasion, which obviously had a huge impact on the community too.

This debate is very pertinent for my constituency because I am surrounded by water in east London: I have the Roding to the east, the River Lea to the west and, significantly, the River Thames bordering the south of my constituency. I also have huge amounts of dockland, including the royal docks, which are a very large open space of water, built at a time when we had a lot of shipping. With that comes a lot of open wharves and causeways, many of which are still in use, which is another aspect of water safety. We have reserved industrial spaces, and education is needed on that. People often forget that lots of the Thames is still a working river. We have a lot of industry. At my end, Tate & Lyle and Tarmac use large shipping, in addition to all the other boats that go up and down the river.

Education is therefore hugely important for where I am, including education on safety and a wide range of things. We need to take advantage of the huge opportunity to work with schools, youth clubs, community groups and young people’s groups to try to get that education across. I am lucky to have active sea scouts and sea cadets in my area; those groups touch only a small number of people, but there are people out there who can deliver such education.

I am of an age that I can remember public information films made by the Central Office of Information. That disappeared in 2012 and we do not have the same sort of programming—I see some smiles around the Chamber from Members of a similar age who remember such things. I was taught to cross the road by Kevin Keegan; I remember it was Jimmy who threw his frisbee into the pylon, so I did not do that; and it was the Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water who warned us about still pools. The fact that I can remember all that 40 years down the line—if hon. Members are interested, many such films are now online and often seen as nostalgia—shows that that type of campaigning works because it sticks in the mind.

We seem to lack a national campaign on such issues. Ironically, those campaigns happened in a pre-digital age, but they lend themselves to the age we now live in, with social media, TikTok and all the rest of it. We could produce information to share with schools and youth groups, so that they could take advantage of such a campaign. I hope that we get back to being able to produce such campaigns that could be widely shared, so that children will remember and tell their children further down the line.

A second issue that I would like to touch on, which was raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey) but is outside the scope of the Minister for Education, is about statutory duty. At the APPG meeting this week, we were told by a fire chief that there is a lack of statutory duty, which seems like a gap in our services. There have been a number of incidents on waterways in my constituency, both accidents and, sadly, suicide attempts, where the fire brigade attended. The London Fire Brigade is always absolutely magnificent—it turns out and does an exceptional job. However, the fact that there is no statutory duty seems to be a gap to me, so that is an important change that needs to be made.

The hon. Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) talked about the weather that is currently forecast. The marine policing unit of the Metropolitan Police Service, which receives over 2,000 calls a year on water safety, highlights that the risk grows in the summer and in hot weather. Certainly, near me, at the Royal Victoria Docks, we have children jumping in all the time, so this is a pertinent debate now, and as we move into the summer, with the hot weather, the issue is pressing.

I will finish with a couple of asks for the Front Bench. Can we look at how we can put in place a comprehensive education programme, working with schools but also on a national level, perhaps taking advantage of modern technology? Can we also look at the need for a statutory duty for fire and rescue services, so that it is enshrined in law, as perhaps people expect it is not, but it is not at the moment? By doing that, hopefully we can take a couple of steps towards ensuring that no family has to go through the kind of incident and heartbreak that my constituents saw earlier this spring.

15:57

[Julia Buckley (Shrewsbury) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this important debate. Shrewsbury is famous for being looped by the beautiful River Severn. It is a source of beauty, nature, tourism and livelihoods for my town, but also, unfortunately, the scene of 14 deaths in the last 10 years. Overwhelmingly, those deaths occurred at the weekends or in the evenings, by men, sometimes after a night out or because of mental ill health, and sometimes because of those two factors combined.

In April 2022 there were two river deaths in quick succession: Toby Jones and Nathan Fleetwood. Those deaths brought the town together, to say that we had had too many such deaths and that we needed to look at the issue as a community to see what could be done. Our local stakeholders and councils came together and launched a water safety campaign. They set up the new Water Safety Action Group, funded by West Mercia Police. We set up safer route signage along the river; got funding for increased solar lighting and rescue throw lines; set up free online water safety courses for schools, colleges and clubs; and we had a poster campaign in pubs and clubs.

My hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) will be delighted to hear that we created videos, to be broadcast in pubs and put out on social media, that told the story of what could go wrong. We also educated bar staff about not overselling alcohol, when too much is too much, and we trained them in mental health response, working with our street pastors. We had free training from the RNLI on waterside response schemes, helping our local businesses. We got funding for CCTV, and we set up the Shrewsbury rangers scheme and taxi marshals to help people to get home safely late in the evening. I am really proud of my town—of how we took this issue on and said, “We don’t want this to happen in Shrewsbury.” I am proud to the House that the number of deaths has reduced slightly.

I pay tribute to our local stakeholders, who responded so quickly and thoroughly to what we considered to be an emergency, and supported our local community. I thank Shropshire council, Shrewsbury town council, our business improvement district, West Mercia police for its funding and support, our street pastors, the fire and rescue service and our local residents’ “Make Our River Safer” Facebook group. Together, as communities, we can help to move the dial.

15:59

[Dr Lauren Sullivan (Gravesham) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for leading this debate on an incredibly important issue—one that is felt by myself and many constituents. It was only a few weeks ago, at the end of May, that two children entered the River Thames in Gravesend. One child was thankfully rescued, but one young girl tragically lost her life. It was an incredibly heartbreaking accident, and I pass on my deepest condolences to her family, her friends and the community. I cannot imagine the pain of their loss—similarly to so many Members who have shared their stories today.

I place on record my gratitude to those who worked so hard in the efforts to save that young girl’s life and have supported our community through this difficult time, including the coastguard, the RNLI, the Port of London Authority, Kent police, the emergency services and the passerby who, on seeing that the young girl was in trouble, jumped in to try to save her; they did indeed save the little boy at that time. The work that these organisations do is commendable and invaluable to the residents of Gravesham, who are on the River Thames.

The River Thames often looks calm and tranquil on its surface, but underneath the rips and currents are incredibly dangerous. We are lucky to have the RNLI station and the Port of London Authority in Gravesend, which chaperone the hugely busy motorway of boats up and down our city. The RNLI is an excellent charity, and I thank it for its hugely important educational work; its volunteers are incredible. I cannot fail to mention, as other Members have mentioned, those choosing to use bridges to take their lives; we must do all that we can to stop those who feel that that is the only option. I thank the RNLI, the Port of London Authority and even the Thames Clipper for saving some of those people and hopefully giving them another chance at life.

Learning to swim from a young age is incredibly important, and it is great that it is on the national curriculum, but I hear and stand with my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen when he says that we can do more in this space. For those swimming in the Thames—certainly near Gravesend—that will not be enough, so those public awareness campaigns, especially through social media, will be crucial.

We must avoid future tragedies and deaths, so I urge the Government to work closely with local authorities, emergency services and other organisations to identify these black spots along our rivers and coastlines and see where further safety measures are needed. Our community in Gravesham has been shaken by this recent tragedy, and we owe it to all those who have lost their lives in similar circumstances to take every possible step to prevent such accidents in the future.

Once again, I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen for bringing this incredibly important issue to the House today. I am proud to stand in support of greater awareness, investment and collaboration to improve water safety across the country.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Can I suggest that we have a four-minute time limit to get everybody in?

15:59

[Josh Newbury (Cannock Chase) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing today’s debate, particularly during Drowning Prevention Week. I will speak of not just the risks of wild and open-water swimming, but the enormous benefits that it can offer when done safely and responsibly.

Specifically, I would like to address concerns about the lake at the former Shoal Hill quarry—which is in the neighbouring constituency of Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge—and about Chasewater reservoir. Although that reservoir falls within the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for Lichfield (Dave Robertson), it is a much-loved site that is frequently used by many of my constituents, particularly those in my home village of Norton Canes. They feel a very strong sense of ownership over what was, for many years before a rebrand, known as the Norton pool. My hon. Friend had hoped to be here today, but due to constituency commitments, he has not been able to join us for this debate. However, he shares the concerns I will raise about Chasewater in his constituency.

As the evenings grow longer and the days get warmer, places such as Shoal Hill quarry and Chasewater become popular destinations for families seeking to cool off. Appealing though it may be, the risks of swimming in dangerous bodies of water can strike anyone. They including cold water shock, currents that drag people down due to the depth of the water, rip currents that drag people away from the shore, a lack of safe exits from the water, cuts caused by hidden objects underwater, a lack of preparation or ways to call for help, and aftershock. Being safe and well prepared before swimming is crucial. According to the National Water Safety Forum, an average of 19 people a year drown when swimming in open water, and I know that every Member in the Chamber today would want to make sure that none of our constituents becomes one of those 19.

Tragically, six years ago, a 21-year-old man drowned in Chasewater while saving a nine-year-old girl from the water. His bravery should not be forgotten, nor should the circumstances that led to such a loss. From memory, I believe that this incident involved an inflatable like the ones used in swimming pools, which—in deep water and with high winds—was pulled some 30 to 40 metres out into the reservoir. However, later that summer and in summers since, we have again seen young children on inflatables in Chasewater. I know I might come across as being a killjoy, but this is genuinely a threat to life, especially for children. As such, I take this opportunity to urge my constituents not to swim in Chasewater—unless it is with an open water swimming group, which I will come to later.

At Shoal Hill quarry near Cannock, too, it is simply not safe to enter the water. Risks lie hidden beneath the surface, including sharp debris, submerged machinery and toxic contaminants. Weed beds and rubbish create an unforeseen web of entanglement, while sheer sudden drop-offs along the quarry floor can turn a step into a deadly fall. But this is not about discouraging people from enjoying the outdoors—quite the opposite. When open water swimming is done properly, it can be incredibly rewarding. People can stay safer while open water swimming by checking the weather, being aware of where to exit the water, making sure they have kit prepared, wearing a brightly coloured swimming cap, and knowing their gear.

Chasewater’s open water swimming groups offer one-to-one coaching, compulsory tow floats, and the National Open Water Coaching Association’s safety system. That wristband system allows immediate access to emergency details. With safety and training of this kind available, people can enjoy open water swimming and trust that they will be safe while doing so. I also pay tribute to all the other businesses and groups that provide safe activities on Chasewater, including Chasewater Activity Centre, Chase Watersports Centre, Pier 52 Watersports and the Chase Sailing Club.

With the beautiful hot weather upon us, it is vital that we continue to talk about ways to make wild water swimming as safe as possible. By increasing awareness and educating people in high-risk areas, we can start to bring down the number of these tragedies. No one should lose their life from a moment of fun, and no family should suffer the grief of a death that could have been prevented. This is not about stopping people enjoying the outdoors, whether at Chasewater, Shoal Hill quarry or anywhere else across the United Kingdom; it is about giving them the information and tools they need to do so safely and confidently.

16:07

[Claire Hughes (Bangor Aberconwy) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this important debate. It is a timely debate, particularly with the hot weather we are seeing and the number of people who will be going into the water this weekend. I am proud to represent the beautiful constituency of Bangor Aberconwy. It is coastal, scenic, and home to some of the most stunning beaches, lakes, rivers and waterfalls. These areas are rightly cherished by residents and visitors alike, but sadly people in my constituency know all too well the pain and devastation that is caused when something goes wrong.

I do not think there will be a single person across my whole constituency whose life has not been touched at some point by a tragedy involving drowning. Those accidents and fatalities are obviously devastating, not just for the individuals, families and communities affected, but for the emergency services and organisations—including the coastguard, RNLI and mountain rescue teams—that are tasked with responding. So much of that painstaking work of search and rescue is carried out by volunteers who give up their time for free, and I want to put on record my thanks to them as well as my deepest condolences to everyone who has been affected by these incidents. This is not just physical work; it is emotional work, never more so than when the incidents involve young people and children.

One specific issue that has been brought to my attention is that of destinations being promoted on social media platforms, such as TikTok and Instagram. The emergency services are responding to big spikes in visitors coming to our area to see these secluded lakes, amazing beaches and tucked-away viewpoints, which are being promoted as hidden gems—but people are unaware of the dangers. I understand that the Education Minister responding today is not necessarily involved directly in online safety, but it would be wonderful if the Government could address that issue.

Perhaps the Minister could discuss with colleagues how social media platforms could be encouraged to act. Other Members have talked about the potential for social media campaigns, which can be influential, especially when we are talking to young people. I would like the social media platforms to be more aware of their responsibilities in highlighting water safety education and the dangers, and perhaps to work with content creators.

We definitely want people to come and visit north Wales and to enjoy our beaches, lakes and rivers. I am in no way blaming anyone who ever calls for help—I have two teenage children, and they will be out enjoying the water this weekend, as will many others; I just want to make sure we have a cross-societal and cross-governmental approach to water safety education. If the Minister could raise that with colleagues within Government, I would be grateful, because we should all be paying attention to this issue online, as well as in the real world.

16:11

[Lee Pitcher (Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme) (Lab)]

Sam Haycock is a name that most Members in the Chamber will not have heard before today, but it is my job to make sure that that 16-year-old’s legacy does not end four years ago, when he was swimming in a South Yorkshire reservoir with his friends. I want Sam’s name imprinted on everyone’s brain and etched in everyone’s heart today—not only in the name of Sam, but for his mum and for his dad, Simon, who came to Parliament yesterday and talked with me about my private Member’s Bill on water safety.

I met Sam’s dad for the first time a couple of summers ago; that day at Thorne fire station, when many firefighters and service people were showing how to rescue someone safely from water, he handed me a picture of Sam. Sam’s dad does that work week in, week out, tirelessly. Yesterday I could see the anguish in his eyes still, because that call that he got will never go away. It makes such a difference to him to be able to go out and educate children and their families about swimming safely, the dangers and risks, and what learning about those dangers can mean for protecting lives in the future.

Unfortunately, if we look back to 2023, there were another 236 or so Sams out there. That is 236 parents, friends or colleagues who got that same horrible knock at the door or that awful phone call. Some 50% of drownings happen in the months of June, July and August—so half of all drownings this year will happen in the next three months. Of course, it is hot, and this year in particular has been super-hot in the lead-up to summer. That prevailing weather is only a bigger risk in terms of the potential numbers that could join those other Sams.

Some 5.8 million children finish their GCSEs today or tomorrow, as the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding) said. Sam died on the day that he finished his GCSEs and went swimming with his friends to celebrate. Across the UK, we have some of the most beautiful watercourses. We have 40,000 lakes, 43,000 miles of rivers. We have 22 major rivers, 2,000 reservoirs, 273 major reservoirs and 600 designated beaches. Those offer opportunities for any child to go and swim—just to try it, perhaps for the first time.

Of course, there is a balance here; water can be good. It is good for physical health, and it is great for mental health. It is a great source of tourism, sports and leisure in our communities. Some 7.5 million people take part or have taken part in open water swimming. One of those people is Lindsy James, who lives in and works across my community. She is a world champion duathlete, who has only recently learned to swim as she had a fear of water; she has shown how swimming can build resilience and confidence.

Given the amount of water that we have, the most important thing is education, because we cannot protect all the different sites that I have talked about. That is why I am so proud that my Water Safety Bill had a reception this week. The Bill would make compulsory water safety education part of this Government’s legal duty, which would save lives—that is the reason we are here today. Our job is to enrich lives, to save lives and to protect lives.

Sam Haycock’s story does not need to end on that day four years ago; there needs to be a legacy. He may not go on to fulfil all the dreams he had on the day he finished his GCSEs, but his legacy can and will allow others to fulfil their dreams.

16:15

[Irene Campbell (North Ayrshire and Arran) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing this important debate. I declare an interest: earlier this month, I hosted an event by Future Lidos, a peer network across the UK and Ireland that is working together to bring outdoor swimming pools to more people in our communities. I am also chair of a local group called Splash, which is working to restore and reopen the outdoor tidal pool in the town of Saltcoats in my constituency. Lidos and outdoor pools provide a safe space and opportunity for people to learn to swim outdoors, and tidal pools get people used to swimming in cold water. I fully support the campaign to open more lidos throughout the UK, although we must make them affordable so that people can access them.

Sadly, Scotland has the highest accidental drowning rate of all the UK nations—it is about three times the rate in England. The risk tends to increase with age, peaking in the 60 to 69 age group. Surprisingly, people who plan to go into the water are not always at the highest risk. It has been shown that accidents can occur among walkers and runners, who can slip into the water and drown, which is why it is vital that everyone learns to swim. In Scotland, there is no statutory requirement to provide swimming lessons, and provision is determined on a council-by-council basis. Learning to swim is not a required part of the curriculum, unlike in Northern Ireland, where swimming is part of the minimum content, or in England, as we heard earlier. In Scotland, there is a “learn to swim” framework, but a significant number of children still leave primary school without learning to swim, and this must be urgently addressed by the SNP Scottish Government.

As a young girl, I learned to swim in the local outdoor tidal pool at the age of four, thanks to my mum, who was a swimming teacher, and swimming has always been important to me. Swimming and water safety skills are vital, and we need to ensure that all children have the opportunity to learn to swim, as well as ensuring that these skills are reinforced throughout people’s lives in order to protect older people too. It is really important that people are encouraged to learn to swim at all ages, not just from a safety perspective but for the many benefits that swimming offers for health and wellbeing—both physical and mental.

16:17

[Phil Brickell (Bolton West) (Lab)]

I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for leading today’s debate. As many Members of this House will know, I am someone who spends many hours out and about on Britain’s rivers and lakes as a keen whitewater kayaker. Regardless of whether it is on moving water, along the coastline or in our lakes, spending time on and in our water is a tremendous joy, but it comes with risks. Regrettably, we have seen a number of tragedies in and around my constituency over the years.

In 2014, Donna Greenall from Horwich in my constituency was sadly found drowned in Rivington reservoir. More recently, in April last year, 17-year-old Joseph Hold died after getting into difficulty in the River Croal in Bolton, having lost control of his canoe. We must learn from these incidents to prevent similar tragedies from happening again. With that in mind, I will make the case for further investment in education to unlock the immense potential of safely being in, on or near water. After all, we owe it to Donna, Joseph and everyone who has lost their lives to drowning, or who has lost loved ones, to continue making improvements to water safety awareness.

Drowning remains one of the leading causes of accidental death, particularly among our young people, yet our approach to water safety remains fragmented. We have national strategies for road safety, for fire prevention and for public health, yet none for water safety. As an island nation that is proud of our maritime history, it is time to change our approach. Indeed, it is high time the Government developed a comprehensive national water safety strategy that brings together civil servants, local authorities, schools, water companies, the emergency services and voluntary organisations in order to raise awareness and, critically, to prevent future tragedies.

There are already some brilliant campaigns that show how simple positive messaging, positioned in the right places, can have a demonstrable impact in reducing incidents. In particular, I commend to colleagues the PaddleSafe campaign, run jointly by Paddle UK and the RNLI, as a good example of what can be done. That summer safety initiative contains five key messages to raise awareness of how to prepare for any type of paddling and to stay safe on any kind of water. Those messages are simple and easy to remember:

“Always wear a buoyancy aid

Tell someone where you’re going

Carry a mobile phone

Check the weather

Know your limits”.

I have seen at first hand the dangers of not heeding those messages, which is why I know that education must be at the heart of our response. Every child should leave school with basic water safety knowledge: how to recognise danger, how to act in an emergency and how to enjoy our waters safely. It is why I am a passionate advocate for swimming remaining a key component of the national curriculum, as my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen mentioned.

[Mrs Sureena Brackenridge (Wolverhampton North East) (Lab)]

Austerity hit access to swimming lessons, as evidenced by the fact that 35% of children from low-income families are able to swim 25 metres unaided compared with 82% from affluent families. Does my hon. Friend agree with me that mandatory requirements for swimming and water safety should be in the national curriculum for all primary schools?

[Phil Brickell]

I entirely agree with my hon. Friend’s remarks about improving education and how fundamental it is to do so.

Indeed, I support calls from the Outdoors For All campaign to ensure our young children learn essential outdoor life skills such as risk-benefit assessment, self-sufficiency, navigation and swimming in early years learning and throughout their schooling. That campaign is supported by organisations such as the Canal & River Trust, the Outdoor Swimming Society, Surfers Against Sewage and Swim England. I was particularly pleased recently to see an awareness-raising stall at Horwich leisure centre to mark Drowning Prevention Week, making sure that both children and parents are aware of the risks and how to manage them.

Prevention goes hand in hand with responsibility. Our waterways are places not only of recreation, but of environmental and economic value, and access is too often restricted, confusing or inconsistently enforced. All that that encourages is irresponsible and frequently dangerous access. If people want to go for a dip on a hot day, like today, we have to assume they are going to find a way to do it, so we need a more proactive role for landowners and land managers in assessing and managing risk appropriately, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds) mentioned.

Finally, we cannot ignore the role of investment. Our rescue services, including our hard-working volunteers in coastguard and mountain rescue teams—such as the Bolton Mountain Rescue Team based at Ladybridge Hall in my constituency—do tremendous work, as do our training providers, and they need sustained, reliable funding. Whether it is better signage, improved safety equipment at popular swimming spots, or stronger enforcement against polluters who degrade our waters or fail to maintain safety measures, proper funding is essential.

To conclude, improving water safety has three core components: first, improving education; secondly, improving safety; and, thirdly, improving and securing access. That will ensure our children, whether they want to swim or spend a day in and around water, are able to do so in a safe manner.

16:23

[Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for bringing forward this critical debate.

We think a lot about water safety in the Ribble Valley constituency; indeed, the River Ribble is in its name. In the River Ribble catchment, which covers my constituency and some lovely neighbouring constituencies, we also have the Hodder, Calder, Darwen, Douglas and Wyre. The Ribble Rivers Trust is a Lancashire-based charity working to improve the River Ribble and all its tributaries for people and wildlife. Along with the Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service, it does a phenomenal job in advocating for water safety as well.

Lancashire is one of the counties in the UK with the highest water safety risk, which is likely due to the geography, as we have coasts, rivers, canals, reservoirs and quarries. One thing that has changed a lot in this country in recent years is that people move around much more. I grew up in Ribble Valley, so it was built into me not to swim in open water or reservoirs, or we at least knew where the really dangerous areas were. However, with a more transient population across the country, it is far more critical to have universal education to ensure that people who have not grown up around water understand its risks.

Another thing I am keen to raise is that, alongside the excellent case being made for lessons in schools, it is critical that children are able to learn water confidence through their own exploration and play. As others have said, that requires local accessible pools for them to explore. I am grateful to those working with me locally to begin a campaign for a proper public swimming pool in the town of Longridge in my constituency, which is one of the things that was most requested on the doorstep there.

Finally, I take this opportunity to encourage all adults who have never felt fully comfortable with swimming to learn, because it is never too late. I never learnt to swim as a child, but a few years ago when my daughter at quite a young age started diving under the water—something I could not do—I realised that I could not be encouraging her to be confident if I could not do it myself. It is a humbling thing to be a 30-something taking swimming lessons, but I am grateful to legendary Preston swimming teacher Karen Smith for her patience. The first time I swam 40 lengths was a very special moment and I am grateful that now, as a parent, I can be confident in adventures with my family. That joy and confidence should be available to everyone in our island nation and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen for pushing the Government on this matter.

16:25

[Amanda Martin (Portsmouth North) (Lab)]

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) and I praise Nessa for her tireless campaigning.

As a former teacher who taught swimming in my NQT—newly qualified teacher—year, as a mum of three young men who are all confident swimmers, and as the MP for Portsmouth’s coastal community where water is a part of daily life, I know just how vital water safety education is. Every child should not only learn how to swim, but understand how to stay safe around water. As has been said today, warn and inform. That is why I welcome Labour’s continued commitment to the PE and sport premium, with £320 million for 2025-26, which schools can use for teacher training and to top-up swimming lessons.

Labour’s new Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will mean that all state-funded schools, including academies, will be required to deliver the national curriculum, which will include swimming and water safety. In addition, the interim report from Labour’s curriculum assessment review recognises the urgent need to rebalance priorities, especially in PE for our older pupils. However, if we are to teach children to swim, we need to ensure we have access to facilities—affordable facilities—in which to have lessons. I am pleased that Hilsea Lido is having a revamp for local use, but we need to help schools work with local facilities, be they private or council, to ensure that pools and transport are a real option and are really affordable.

I also want to echo the praise for, and the promotion of, the Royal Life Saving Society for the work it is doing to help to educate us. Its resources are brilliant and there is no need to reinvent the wheel. I have seen the great work of my local National Independent Lifeboat Association. Alongside Portsmouth RNLI lifeboat and lifeguards, Portsmouth Southsea Voluntary Lifeguards and our local police and fire services, they all go the extra mile.

Raising awareness helps inform and warn, but it needs to be put into practice to save lives. As my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) noted, I also remember the childhood public service broadcasts some 40 years ago. They do work, and it would be a great and positive use of our online media platforms. In Portsmouth North, where children live near the sea, ponds, shorelines and marshes, these reforms to water safety education and swimming are not optional, but essential. I fully support the Government’s steps to ensure that every child leaves school with essential lifesaving water skills. I fully support the extra calls from my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen. I pledge to work with him and others on behalf of our constituents to make a national strategy for water safety a reality for our kids and for all our communities.

16:28

[Luke Myer (Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on securing the debate. I will be very brief. I just want to highlight an ongoing issue in my part of the world. I am deeply concerned about the case of Serren Bennett, an 18-year-old who has been missing from my constituency since 8 June, 11 days ago. She was last seen approaching Redcar beach, where an item of her clothing has been found. I hope Members across the House will join me in sending our thoughts to Serren’s family and friends at this difficult time. [Hon. Members: “Hear, hear.”] I hope that the Government will be able to assure me that the relevant authorities will be working with Cleveland police to do everything possible so she can be found.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

16:29

[Steff Aquarone (North Norfolk) (LD)]

I am pleased to wind up this debate on behalf of the Liberal Democrats, and I congratulate the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for securing it. As others have said, this debate is incredibly timely, as this week is National Drowning Prevention Week.

There have been a number of excellent contributions today. I was very pleased to hear the speech of my hon. Friend the Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding), and want to associate myself with the points she and other hon. Members made on the importance of being prepared to spot the dangers and react to them and to be ready when things go wrong, which is just as important as being able to swim in the first place. Other hon. Members have raised important points and details—even in short interventions—and I am particularly pleased to see so many colleagues from across the House who have attended recent debates on rural and coastal communities in their places. There is clearly a theme building here.

The hon. Member for Southampton Itchen spoke about calls for ministerial responsibility. I think that could fit very well within the portfolio of a Minister for coastal communities, and I look forward to exploring that possibility with him further.

Members who have paid close attention to my past speeches in this House might have noticed that North Norfolk is a proud coastal community. By our nature, we have a lot of water, and our beaches and seas are beloved by residents and tourists alike, although for those who are not confident in the water, they can also be incredibly dangerous. Norfolk’s inland waterways are also very special, with the Norfolk broads and fantastic rivers and chalk streams like the Glaven, Bure and Stiffkey.

This is a serious concern not just to me, but to Imogen, who attends a primary school in my constituency, and who wrote to me with her concerns. Imogen said:

“All around North Norfolk there are lots of rivers which are wonderful. Apart from that if people don’t know how to swim they may fall in and drown. This is a tragic problem which affects people all around England. If people were on a walk around a river or lake and accidentally slip in and inhale the water their families would be distraught. I am not asking for a law that people know how to swim, but am requesting your attention so that you can review the problem if it persists. It may be a good idea to think about how this affects England as a whole.”

She closes by saying:

“I know there are lifesaving rings dotted around but feel there is not enough and that a few more lives could be saved if there are more that can be used. Swimming lessons are charged quite high making it harder for people to be able to teach their children to swim which may be part of the problem.”

I am sure hon. Members will agree that Imogen, despite being in primary school, has summarised this problem and highlighted the issues just as well as any of us could have.

Water safety is an issue that could affect any one of our constituents, potentially when they least expect it, as Imogen points out. I agree with her that we need to take a serious look at this across the House, and I hope that the Government will be able to provide not just reassurance and answers, but a promise of action to Imogen and everyone else who is concerned about this issue.

The Liberal Democrats are committed to mandatory swimming lessons in schools and are calling on the Government to ensure that identified swimming skills gaps are urgently addressed. The fact that 30% of 11 to 12-year-olds are unable to swim more than 25 metres is a real worry for those of us in rural and coastal communities who worry for the safety of our young people in our rivers and seas.

To address those issues, we have to invest more in our local swimming pools. I am delighted that in North Norfolk, in the past few years, we have built the Reef leisure centre swimming pool in Sheringham—a real state-of-the-art facility, which is a great asset to the community. I am equally delighted that the Lib Dem council has secured funding for a multimillion-pound expansion and refurbishment of Fakenham leisure centre, which will include a new 25-metre swimming pool, in the constituency of my neighbour, the hon. Member for Broadland and Fakenham (Jerome Mayhew).

[Jerome Mayhew (Broadland and Fakenham) (Con)]

rose—

[Steff Aquarone]

On that note, having seen the hon. Gentleman in his place, I will give way to him.

[Jerome Mayhew]

Firs, I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on his first outing on the Front Bench—he is doing a very good job. Secondly, I will not quibble over who it was who obtained the funding from the Conservative Government—the Conservative Member of Parliament or the Liberal Democrat district council—so let us leave that to one side. Thirdly, I join the hon. Gentleman in welcoming the development of having a swimming pool in Fakenham. Does he agree that that will go a long way in helping people in Fakenham and the surrounding area to learn to swim?

[Steff Aquarone]

Let me absolutely clear: everybody involved in securing that bid deserves congratulations— I totally agree with the hon. Gentleman.

[Jerome Mayhew]

Was that the hon. Gentleman’s next point? I intervened too soon! [Laughter.]

[Steff Aquarone]

I think the point the hon. Gentleman is making is that many in Fakenham, as well as the nearby villages in my constituency, are delighted by the news and thrilled with the hard work that has gone into securing it.

Liberal Democrats also want to end the closure of swimming pools by designating them as critical health infrastructure, which would enshrine protections in law, meaning that central and local government would have a legal duty not to cut these services and to maintain adequate funding to keep them open.

Of course, people are not just swimming in pools, as many people enjoy gaining confidence through wild and open water swimming. However, in order for them to be able to do that, we have to clean up our rivers and seas after years of scandalous sewage dumping. For those looking to swim, only 14% of rivers and lakes in England are in good ecological health. Last year, water companies dumped sewage more than 100,000 times into areas with bathing water status. That is unacceptable. We must crack down on the years of unchecked profiteering and environmental damage that the water companies have caused. We must bring in tougher new laws to protect our environment and the health of those who enjoy it. In North Norfolk, we will not stand for it a moment longer.

To conclude, to secure the water safety that we need, we must have strong education, enabled by strong facilities and a clean environment. If we do that, then Imogen and people of all ages can enjoy the rivers and seas in North Norfolk and around our beautiful country with confidence and safety for years to come.

16:34

[Neil O’Brien (Harborough, Oadby and Wigston) (Con)]

Let me pay tribute to the hon. Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) for leading this important debate and for doing such a good job in setting out all the different issues at stake. Although he covered a huge amount of ground in his opening statement, we also heard some excellent speeches from across the House, with everyone adding important points.

We have had excellent speeches from the right hon. Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds), and the hon. Members for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey), for Gravesham (Dr Sullivan), for Bolton West (Phil Brickell), and for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin). Various points will stay with me. My hon. Friend the Member for Meriden and Solihull East (Saqib Bhatti) raised the hugely important issue of safety on ice and the terrible, terrible case involving his young constituents.

The hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding) caught my attention with her description of the Barbados of south London, which I very much enjoyed. I also strongly agreed with her tribute to water safety groups. My hon. Friend the Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) talked about the terrible case of Emily Lewis and the issue of safety on boats, which is a crucial part of this debate. The hon. Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) raised the issue of those old Central Office of Information films that have stayed with all of us, particularly the chilling “The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water”, which we all seem to have seen. The hon. Member for Bangor Aberconwy (Claire Hughes) then brought us bang up to date by talking about what social media could do in this space. The hon. Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) made the crucial point about the importance of not drinking and swimming, and the critical dangers there.

The hon. Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) reminded us of the benefits of being able to swim outside, yet there are certain places in which it is just not safe to swim. A number of other Members made the point that, in a more transient society, not everyone knows where those places are any more. The hon. Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) made a powerful speech, talking not just about Sam and his father, but about his private Member’s Bill, the Water Safety Bill.

We also had a really interesting contribution from the hon. Member for North Ayrshire and Arran (Irene Campbell), who has a beautiful constituency, which I associate with seaside holidays as a child—and as an adult. A surprising fact in her speech was that this subject is not on the curriculum in Scotland, which seems like an obvious first step. The hon. Member for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (Luke Myer) talked about the awful case of the missing child in his constituency. We of course hope for the best for that family.

I will turn in a moment to talk about some of the things that the previous Government did. I do so not to say that everything is wonderful, because of course it is not, but because I thought that it might be a way of prompting further reflections on what more we could do to go further. As has already been mentioned, it was the previous Government who updated the national curriculum in 2013 to add swimming and water safety education. It is surprising that it was so late. That was where we got this rule that pupils should be taught to swim at least 25 metres.

A few people have talked about facilities. The previous Government announced the first £10 million and then £57 million to open up access to pools in schools, as it is obviously very sad to see good facilities not being used after school hours. We enabled 220 schools to open up their pools more than they had been doing, and we want to do more of that.

We worked together with some brilliant organisations in the National Water Safety Forum, including the RNLI, Swim England, the Royal Life Saving Society and many more. We have heard from a number of Members about important local and individual campaigns that can be so powerful, and I pay tribute to all the people involved in those.

I was involved in using the sugar tax to create and then expand the PE and sport premium, which has provided more funding for PE lessons in schools. In 2017, we doubled the funding that primary schools received to improve the quality of their PE and sport provision, including water education—it went up from £160 million to £320 million. However, there is still much more to be done, because about a third of adults—about 14 million people—still cannot swim. I must pay tribute to the hon. Member for Ribble Valley (Maya Ellis) for leading by example and learning to swim as an adult—good on her for doing that.

All of us are affected by these hugely important issues. Members might think that since my constituency is as far away from the sea as it could be, the main risk is normally people with metal detectors fishing in the canal and constantly fishing out hand grenades, but water safety is relevant everywhere. Just at Christmas a one-year-old girl was rescued from the River Welland.

This has been an important debate. We welcome the Government’s decision to look carefully at what can be done to build on the existing statutory guidance and update it. We have heard excellent contributions from Members on both sides of the House, and I look forward to the Minister’s comments.

16:40

[The Minister for School Standards (Catherine McKinnell)]

I join Members in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen (Darren Paffey) on securing a debate on this incredibly important topic in this very timely week and on his powerful opening speech. I was truly saddened to hear of the deaths of his constituent Joe Abbess and Sunnah Khan at Bournemouth beach in June 2023. I extend my heartfelt condolences to their families and pay tribute to Vanessa Abbess for her campaigning.

I thank the hon. Member for Harborough, Oadby and Wigston (Neil O’Brien) for paying such thorough tribute to all Members for their contributions. If I am honest, he has saved me the task, as he did real credit to the widespread and important contributions that have been made. A number of Members present are clearly working very hard in Parliament on water safety issues, and it is a real honour to work with them. I welcome the engagement from my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen on this topic and wish him every success in his new role as chair of the all-party parliamentary group on water safety education.

By holding this debate, we alert more people to the issue of water safety, and we spread understanding of the dangers of water, particularly in this hot weather. As mentioned by my right hon. Friend the Member for Oxford East (Anneliese Dodds), we must remember those who have been affected. There have been many names mentioned and many tragic stories, and by remembering them today, we save lives and prevent tragedies from happening to others. I want to put on record how sorry I am to hear about Serren Bennet, who is still missing from Redcar beach. My thoughts go out to her family and friends and to the emergency services, who will be working incredibly hard to find her.

This is a timely debate, as we mark the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week. I am pleased to support this important campaign. Each year, it reminds us of the sobering truth that drowning is one of the leading causes of accidental death in the UK, and children remain a very vulnerable group. As parents, carers and educators, we have a shared responsibility to ensure that every child understands the fundamentals of water safety. By having conversations with children about water safety and providing practical learning, we can equip children with the knowledge and skills to recognise danger, know how to respond in an emergency and enjoy water safely, which is fundamentally what we want for children. Schools have a vital role in achieving this aim.

[Sir John Hayes (South Holland and The Deepings) (Con)]

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. I have known her since she first came to the House, and she knows that she has my respect and regard. Swimming is critical. It is true that people who can swim still get into trouble, but if someone cannot swim at all, they are at much greater risk. Will she work with colleagues across the House, including me in respect of Deepings leisure centre, to make sure that there are good swimming facilities across the whole of our nation?

[Catherine McKinnell]

The right hon. Member is right to recognise how fundamental swimming is, but it is really important to recognise that it is not enough, as has come across very strongly in this debate. But being able to swim is the foundation that every child should have. As the right hon. Gentleman will know, it takes a cross-Government effort to make sure that we have the facilities that children and everybody else can use to learn how to swim.

The national curriculum for PE, as has been noted, includes mandatory requirements on swimming and water safety at primary school. As has been acknowledged, pupils should be taught to swim 25 metres unaided, to perform a range of strokes, and to perform safe self-rescue in different water-based situations. Academies and free schools are not currently required to follow the national curriculum, but they do have to provide a broad and balanced curriculum. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill, which was introduced in December 2024 and is making its way through the House, places a requirement on all state-funded schools, including academies, to teach the national curriculum and will, once implemented, extend the requirement to teach swimming and water safety to all state-funded schools.

Data from Sport England’s active lives survey reported in 2024 that 95.2% of state primary schools surveyed reported that they did provide swimming lessons. We want all pupils to have the opportunity to learn to swim. Support is available, as has been highlighted, through the PE and sport premium, and a range of guidance and support is available from sector organisations. We are working really closely with sector experts, including the Royal Life Saving Society UK, the Royal National Lifeboat Institution and Swim England, to ensure that all schools have access to high-quality resources to provide swimming and water safety lessons to their students.

I was therefore delighted to announce last week that the PE and sport premium would continue at £320 million for the upcoming academic year. Schools can use their premium funding to provide teacher training and top-up swimming and water safety lessons for pupils if they still need additional support to reach the standard required in the national curriculum after they have completed their core swimming and water safety lessons.

Then, alongside water safety and PE lessons, schools also currently integrate water safety into their PSHE programmes, equipping students with an understanding of risk and the knowledge required to make safe, informed decisions. The water safety code provides a foundation for water safety education, providing simple, easy-to-remember information that helps keep people safe. That is why we are working to ensure that teaching pupils the water safety code at primary and secondary school will feature in our new RHSE statutory guidance, which will be published shortly. I hope that reassures the hon. Member for Esher and Walton (Monica Harding) and many others who expressed concern today.

During my time as Chair of the Petitions Committee, when I sat on the Opposition side of the House, I worked really closely on water safety, alongside Rebecca Ramsay, who was mentioned by my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen, who tragically lost her son Dylan in 2011. So I am really pleased now to be in a position where I can help deliver better water safety education in schools and really make further, meaningful progress on this issue, so that no more families lose a child in such circumstances.

In 2024 the Department launched its independent curriculum and assessment review, chaired by Becky Francis CBE, to shape a curriculum that is rich and broad, inclusive and innovative for learners from five to 18. The interim report, published in March, rightly recognises the growing challenges that schools face in prioritising subjects like PE, particularly at key stage 4, and the lack of sport opportunities for 16 to 19-year-olds. So I really want to thank members of the National Water Safety Forum education group for their thoughtful contributions to the panel’s call for evidence. The review is considering a wide range of evidence. We are really keen to work with the sector, not only on what will be included in the curriculum, but on how, as a Government, we can support its implementation so that we have high-quality standards across all schools. Every child deserves the best start in life, no matter their background or ability, and it is our mission to ensure that we do everything we can to achieve that. No child should miss out on the opportunity to learn how to keep themselves safe in and around water.

Last month I was pleased to announce a grant of up to £300,000 a year to the consortium led by Youth Sport Trust to deliver Inclusion 2028, a programme to upskill teachers to deliver high-quality and inclusive PE, sport and physical activity to pupils with special educational needs and disabilities. Inclusion 2028 will provide inclusive swimming and water lessons. Two hundred young water safety champions will be trained to promote water safety to their peers. Seven new online resources will be created. The consortium will work with disability sport organisations, and nine inclusive school swimming specialists are being delivered to help deliver continuing professional development to staff at schools and leisure centres.

[Paul Holmes]

The Minister is right and I agree with everything that she has outlined on ensuring that those lessons are delivered at school and particularly as early on as possible. May I have her reassurance, and will she briefly outline, how she intends to ensure that is enforced further down the line, once the national curriculum comes out?

[Catherine McKinnell]

As I said, we are working with sector organisations on the content of the curriculum, and we are working with the sector on the delivery of these programmes. I could go into detail on Ofsted and the changes we are making on accountability, but I do not believe there is time in this debate. However, I take the challenge and I will take that away. I agree that not only do we need to say that children should have these things, but we need to make sure that they are armed with the knowledge that we know will keep them safe.

A number of Members, inspired by my hon. Friend the Member for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser), have mentioned public information campaigns. That brought to my mind the story of Evan Crisp from Newcastle. Six years ago, Evan and his friends were at Beadnell bay in Northumberland, celebrating finishing their exams, as we know lots of young people will be doing at the moment. He was caught in a rip and was swept out to sea.

As Evan lost sight of the beach, he recalled an RNLI advert that he had seen very briefly—only for a minute—before a film that he had gone to see. Everyone who falls unexpectedly into cold water wants to follow the same instinct: to swim hard, to fight the cold water. Yet when people fight, the chances are that they will lose. Cold water will make you gasp uncontrollably. Breathe in water and you will drown. If you just float until the cold-water shock has passed, you can control your breathing and have a far better chance of staying alive. Evan followed that advice and managed to hold on to consciousness for 45 minutes until he was rescued. He feels incredibly grateful to be alive because he knows that many people do not have that opportunity. He did not learn that information at school, but from a public information campaign.

I will therefore take away the asks that have been made—they are not necessarily for my Department, but for the Government more broadly. Many useful suggestions have been made in our discussions, and we can take those away and work on them. It is clear from this debate that water safety must be a part of every child’s education. Alongside the national curriculum, education settings should have access to a wide range of engaging programmes, so that young people can know how to enjoy water safely. It can be done and it should be done.

I am delighted that representatives from RLSS UK, Swim England, RNLI and the Canal and River Trust have all agreed to meet me to discuss their work to support water safety education in schools. I am grateful for their ongoing work in that area. I am also grateful to my hon. Friend the Member for Southampton Itchen, the APPG on water safety education and all Members who contributed to this important debate. My final word goes to the families who have been affected by the terrible loss of a loved one, and in particular Joe Abbess’s family, who are here today. Your brave campaigning will save lives, so thank you.

[Mr Speaker]

Beckie Ramsay is my constituent, and it was her son Dylan who drowned in that abandoned quarry. He will never be forgotten. The loss that she suffered, and that others have suffered, as has been mentioned today—none of us can imagine what they went through. I just want to say that Beckie does a great job of going into schools, educating and saving lives for others.

16:53

[Darren Paffey]

I thank all Members, from across the Chamber, who have taken part in this debate. I will mention a few key strands that have been raised, just because they align with some of the things that I have asked for. My hon. Friend the Member for Salford (Rebecca Long Bailey) mentioned that the fire response, which is often the first response to these terrible tragedies, is not statutory. Does she agree that a Minister with particular responsibility for drowning prevention might bring that coherence?

[Rebecca Long Bailey]

indicated assent.

[Darren Paffey]

I hope the Minister has followed that. I do not expect everything to be on education, but there is a necessary cross-departmental organisation response that needs to happen. It goes beyond education and some of the recommendations reflect that.

My hon. Friends the Members for West Ham and Beckton (James Asser) and for Bangor Aberconwy (Claire Hughes) mentioned the information campaigns that are necessary, particularly using contemporary tools of social media, which takes me to another campaign I am involved in. The potential of social media to do good is great. Unfortunately, too often that is not what happens, so we need to hold social media companies to account, to ensure that they keep our young people safe.

My hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) mentioned a wonderful community-led campaign, and there is a real example to take from that. On the contribution of my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher), I met Sam’s dad when he was in the House yesterday and I know he appreciates the work that my hon. Friend does, so I commend him for Sam’s law. He can count on my support and, I am sure, that of many others across the House. I commend my hon. Friend the Member for Ribble Valley (Maya Ellis), who, despite the focus on schools that some of the debate has necessarily taken, made an incredibly salient point about why water safety education needs to go wider, and adults learning to swim would also benefit from that.

We heard during this debate—and during Drowning Prevention Week—about the wonderful variety of waterways that we enjoy. We have heard about the Thames, from its historical east to the tropical west. The hon. Member for Hamble Valley (Paul Holmes) mentioned the neighbouring river to mine—of course, the greatest river is the River Itchen. I share the Solent with my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth North (Amanda Martin). We heard about the quays and canals of Salford and Greater Manchester, the Severn, the Ribble, the national parks, and the lidos from Ayrshire to Hilsea. We say that these waterways must be enjoyed, but they must be enjoyed safely, and we must look at how we can move on from the current situation.

I thank everyone who has added breadth to the appreciation of this issue, as well as adding weight to the sense of urgency that we must take. Hon. Members from across the Chamber have demonstrated why the ability to swim and the knowledge of what happens in different waterways up and down the country is absolutely crucial. Although we have done that through heartbreaking personal accounts, I hope that their names and stories, having been heard in this place, will move us to action.

I appreciate the Minister’s words on what is happening. I am encouraged to hear about the meetings taking place. I look forward to reading and engaging with the RSHE guidance. I remain of the view that this should be foundational, not pieced together by different approaches. I look forward to engaging further and ensuring that by Drowning Prevention Week 2026, we will have moved on and have acted and saved more lives. By then we will have been through what is already proving to be a hot summer, and indeed through the winter—the hon. Member for Meriden and Solihull East (Saqib Bhatti) rightly pointed out the dangers of ice.

I thank the Backbench Business Committee, all those who have supported and spoken in the debate, my team who have made today happen, and the various organisations—I will not list them all—helping us to move the dial on this issue. Finally, and most importantly, I thank Ness, who has been an incredible inspiration for me in the debate; I hope she sees today that her work is of national significance.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered water safety education.