Extreme Climate and Weather Events: National Resilience

Helena Dollimore Excerpts

Tuesday 10th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Jayne Kirkham]

I agree that farmers have been incredibly helpful in so many ways; I am thinking about Storm Goretti and all the work they did with clearing trees. Of course, hopefully some of the work that this Government are doing on the sustainable farming incentive will also enable them to do that work to store water. We need to build resilience on a national and local level, but we are not currently fully prepared.

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

My hon. Friend and I worked together on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee to push for the inquiry on extreme weather events to which her debate refers. The fire service is often the first agency on the scene after flooding, a storm, a landslip or a wildfire, but under the previous Government it was cut back significantly. The fire service is called out more and more often. Does my hon. Friend agree that it is more important than ever?

[Jayne Kirkham]

I agree; the fire service is absolutely fundamental, particularly in Cornwall, where it did amazing work during Storm Goretti.

In its response to the UK’s third national adaptation plan, the Climate Change Committee called on the Government to urgently refresh NAP3, as it fell short of preparing the UK for the climate change that we are experiencing, and adaptation progress is too slow, has stalled or is sometimes heading in the wrong direction. We are still reliant on short-term emergency measures, which cost more in the long term.