Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to review water safety provision at public beaches, rivers and lakes without lifeguard supervision, and whether they will issue additional guidance to local authorities.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibilities for water safety sit with various Government departments, agencies, local authorities, and other public bodies. These include regular safety messaging and guidance to ensure people have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe, as well as provision of safety/lifesaving equipment at water bodies. Water sports national governing bodies are responsible for providing advice and guidance for how to participate in their sports safely. Inland waterway navigation authorities conduct risk assessments to inform the provision of appropriate lifesaving equipment on their networks. In conjunction with other services, HM Coastguard provides safety advice and guidance about the coastal environment.
The National Water Safety Forum brings together a wide range of national groups, including some 80 local authorities, to create a ‘one-stop shop’ for the prevention of drowning and water safety harm in the UK. The Local Government Association has developed a water safety toolkit (copy attached) for local authorities for use inland and on the coast.
Asked by: Lord Kamall (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to develop a cross-departmental drowning prevention strategy for unguarded waters.
Answered by Baroness Hayman of Ullock - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs)
Responsibilities for water safety sit with various Government departments, agencies, local authorities, and other public bodies. These include regular safety messaging and guidance to ensure people have the knowledge they need to keep themselves safe, as well as provision of safety/lifesaving equipment at water bodies. Water sports national governing bodies are responsible for providing advice and guidance for how to participate in their sports safely. Inland waterway navigation authorities conduct risk assessments to inform the provision of appropriate lifesaving equipment on their networks. In conjunction with other services, HM Coastguard provides safety advice and guidance about the coastal environment.
The National Water Safety Forum brings together a wide range of national groups, including some 80 local authorities, to create a ‘one-stop shop’ for the prevention of drowning and water safety harm in the UK. The Forum launched the UK Drowning Prevention Strategy 2016-2026 (copy attached), which aims to reduce the number of accidental drownings in the UK by 50% by 2026. The Local Government Association has developed a water safety toolkit (copy attached) for local authorities for use inland and on the coast.
Asked by: Andrew Snowden (Conservative - Fylde)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to improve water safety in coastal areas.
Answered by Chris Bryant - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)
Responsibilities for water safety sit with various government departments and agencies including the Department for the Environment and Rural Affairs and the Health and Safety Executive, which has produced the Prevention of drowning document (link). In addition, The Maritime and Coastguard Agency is responsible for enforcing the safety of boats used in navigation, including people on them, and the safety of the crew. Together with the Department for Transport they produced the Maritime Safety Action Plan (link).
The National Governing Bodies are responsible for providing advice and guidance for how to participate in their sports safely. The Government provides support to these organisations through funding from Sport England.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to help ensure that teachers are trained to deliver water safety education in the classroom.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Swimming and water safety is a compulsory part of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. There are no specific statutory requirements for secondary schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons. Compulsory health education requires that schools teach a sound understanding of risk and provide pupils with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions on their wellbeing and health.
The Department is working in partnership with members of the National Water Safety Forum, in particular Royal Life Saving Society UK and Swim England to support schools to teach primary and secondary pupils important aspects of water safety.
This support includes online lessons on Oak National Academy and resources for pupils in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, launched by the National Water Safety Forum, as part of the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week in July 2022.
Asked by: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to ensure that water safety education is included in the national curriculum for primary and secondary schools.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Swimming and water safety is a compulsory part of the National Curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. There are no specific statutory requirements for secondary schools to provide swimming and water safety lessons. Compulsory health education requires that schools teach a sound understanding of risk and provide pupils with the knowledge necessary to make informed decisions on their wellbeing and health.
The Department is working in partnership with members of the National Water Safety Forum, in particular Royal Life Saving Society UK and Swim England to support schools to teach primary and secondary pupils important aspects of water safety.
This support includes online lessons on Oak National Academy and resources for pupils in Key Stages 1, 2 and 3, launched by the National Water Safety Forum, as part of the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week in July 2022.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will introduce compulsory education focused on water safety and drowning prevention for school aged children and young people.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Swimming and water safety is a compulsory element of the physical education curriculum at Key Stages 1 and 2. It sets out the expectation that pupils should be taught to swim competently, confidently and proficiently over a distance of at least 25 metres, use a range of strokes effectively, and perform safe self rescue in different water based situations.
The Department has made new virtual water safety lessons available through Oak National Academy and has supported the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week 2021. The Department is working closely with Swim England, Royal Life Saving Society UK and other organisations to support pupils returning safely to swimming and promoting water safety education.
Asked by: Grahame Morris (Labour - Easington)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will introduce a public awareness campaign targeting young people on water safety and drowning prevention.
Answered by Rebecca Pow
The Environment Agency encourages safe and responsible recreation on inland and coastal water and is responsible for safety on waterside assets it owns, operates or occupies (such as locks, weirs and bridges). It has published advice on how to stay safe while visiting waterways: www.gov.uk/government/publications/staying-safe-around-water. The Environment Agency is also a member of the National Water Safety Forum.
Local councils often play an important role in ensuring that people stay safe around water in public spaces in their areas. The Local Government Association has published a water safety toolkit for councils: Water safety toolkit | Local Government Association.
Fire and rescue services have also been pivotal in raising public awareness in this area, through their work with landowners and partner organisations.
Water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the curriculum for Physical Education at primary school. The Department for Education recognises that children have missed out on opportunities to learn to swim due to COVID-19 restrictions and is working closely with Swim England and other swimming and water safety organisations to support pupils returning safely to swimming and promoting water safety education.
Asked by: Catherine West (Labour - Hornsey and Friern Barnet)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on children's access to school swimming lessons.
Answered by Nick Gibb
Swimming and water safety is a vital life skill, which is why it is a mandatory part of the curriculum for physical education at primary school. The Department recognises that children have missed out on opportunities to learn to swim due to COVID-19 restrictions. We are working closely with Swim England and other swimming and water safety organisations to support pupils to return safely to swimming and to promote water safety education. This includes an additional £10.1 million to improve use of school sport facilities, including swimming pools.
Water safety education is a priority for the summer period to enable children to know how to be safe in and around water. The Department has made new virtual water safety lessons available through Oak National Academy and has supported the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week 2021.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how much of the £320 million of PE and sport premium available for primary schools has been spent on children’s swimming.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department does not collect data from schools on how many pupils are able to swim 25 metres, but data from Sport England’s annual Active Lives Children Survey provides the government with a national picture. Data for the 2019-20 academic year shows that 77% of children in year 7 report they can swim 25 metres.
The physical education (PE) and sport premium can be used by primary schools to support swimming and water safety, for example, through ‘top-up’ lessons or additional teaching training. The department provides schools with the flexibility to decide how to spend their premium in line with the conditions of the grant and do not collect data on the proportion or the amount of spend for any given activity.
In addition to the PE and sport premium, schools are able to access new virtual water safety lessons from Oak National Academy and the department will be supporting the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week in June 2021. The department has provided an additional £10.1 million to improve the use of school sport facilities, including swimming pools. New resources to support children with special educational needs and disabilities to swim and knowing how to be safe in and around the water have been developed through the department’s Inclusion 2020 grant, which is led by the Youth Sport Trust. These resources are available on Swim England’s inclusion hub.
Asked by: Baroness Hoey (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask Her Majesty's Government how many primary school children have not been able to swim the statutory 25 metres in the 2019/20 academic year and what is their projection for this figure in 2020/2021.
Answered by Baroness Berridge
The department does not collect data from schools on how many pupils are able to swim 25 metres, but data from Sport England’s annual Active Lives Children Survey provides the government with a national picture. Data for the 2019-20 academic year shows that 77% of children in year 7 report they can swim 25 metres.
The physical education (PE) and sport premium can be used by primary schools to support swimming and water safety, for example, through ‘top-up’ lessons or additional teaching training. The department provides schools with the flexibility to decide how to spend their premium in line with the conditions of the grant and do not collect data on the proportion or the amount of spend for any given activity.
In addition to the PE and sport premium, schools are able to access new virtual water safety lessons from Oak National Academy and the department will be supporting the Royal Life Saving Society UK’s Drowning Prevention Week in June 2021. The department has provided an additional £10.1 million to improve the use of school sport facilities, including swimming pools. New resources to support children with special educational needs and disabilities to swim and knowing how to be safe in and around the water have been developed through the department’s Inclusion 2020 grant, which is led by the Youth Sport Trust. These resources are available on Swim England’s inclusion hub.