🆘 Water Safety

Commons Chamber

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MP Lee Pitcher introduced a Bill aimed at enhancing water safety after a tragic incident involving a teenager named Sam, who drowned in a reservoir. The proposed legislation seeks to mandate the installation and maintenance of safety equipment at reservoirs, criminalize the vandalism of such equipment, and expand water safety education in schools. Pitcher emphasized the urgency of the issue, highlighting that over 140 people die annually in similar incidents, urging Parliament to act to prevent future tragedies. The Bill received support and will be read a second time on June 20.

Summary

  • Lee Pitcher, a Member of Parliament, proposed a Bill to enhance water safety following the tragic drowning of a 16-year-old boy named Sam in a South Yorkshire reservoir.

  • The Bill aims to:
    • Mandate the installation and maintenance of safety equipment at reservoirs.
    • Ensure that this safety equipment is easily and quickly accessible.
    • Create a new criminal offence for damaging or destroying safety equipment near bodies of water.
    • Expand water safety education in schools to include the dangers of swimming in open water.

  • Sam’s father, Simon Haycock, has been actively campaigning for these changes, known as Sam’s law, since his son’s death in May 2021.

  • In 2023, there were 141 deaths in inland open water bodies, with an average of 146 deaths per year over the last decade. The Royal Life Saving Society estimates that for every drowning, there are more than 10 near misses.

  • The Bill suggests that reservoir owners, who benefit from these managed bodies of water, should be responsible for the costs of safety measures.

  • The proposed changes to the national curriculum would teach children about the risks of swimming in open water, including cold water shock and hidden dangers.

  • The Bill was supported by several MPs and will have its Second Reading on Friday 20 June.

Divisiveness

The session displays a very low level of disagreement, essentially none. The motion proposed by Lee Pitcher for a Bill concerning water safety was put forward without any opposition from other members of the House. The transcript indicates that the Question was ‘put and agreed to’, meaning it received unanimous support. There are no recorded instances of dissenting voices, debates, or counterarguments presented by other parliament members during this session. This suggests that the proposal was either widely accepted or there was no willingness or need to challenge it at this stage. Examples of disagreement are absent because the entire session was focused on the proponent’s arguments for the Bill without any interruption or contrary views being expressed.