Hansard

I congratulate Roseanna Cunningham on securing the debate and commend her diligence in seeking answers to the questions that, as yet, remain unanswered. I extend to you, Presiding Officer, the courtesy of apologising for the fact that I have to leave the chamber shortly before 6 o'clock because of a school engagement that was fixed before I was notified of the debate.

Ms Cunningham is quite right to say that the issue of water safety has, sadly, been at the forefront of our thoughts recently with the tragic loss of life on the Tay. I extend my condolences to the families involved.

Not surprisingly, the issue has caused much concern among local fire officers for the very reasons that Ms Cunningham has outlined. It is principally on those grounds that I am happy to support her motion.

Scotland has more than 50,000km of moving water, so it is unsatisfactory that we do not have a coherent water safety strategy under which there is a statutory duty to rescue people who become trapped in moving water. The Fire (Additional Function) (Scotland) Order 2005 places a statutory duty on fire and rescue authorities to make provision for

"rescuing people trapped, or likely to become trapped, by water … in the event of serious flooding"

in their areas. However, it is unclear whether the provision covers direct responsibility for carrying out rescues from moving water when no authority in Scotland has a statutory duty to do so. In Norway, for example, the police have a core responsibility for responding to such emergencies, with additional headquarters in each of its 19 counties so that such incidents can be managed directly.

In the past, our fire and rescue services have demonstrated their ability to deal with many difficult and challenging incidents. I pay specific tribute to their professionalism during the recent flooding in the Milnathort area of Kinross-shire. That professionalism should not be compromised by a lack of clarity in the laws of the land.

Naturally, firefighters have voiced concerns about the need for dedicated water rescue equipment, and they believe that further training is necessary to ensure that such rescues can be carried out.

I take the opportunity to highlight another arm of our rescue services that is often overlooked and its specialist training and rescue service potential. I refer to the Scottish mountain rescue teams, which could play a vital role in a Scottish water rescue strategy. Made up of volunteers who are on call 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, many mountain rescue teams are more used to carrying out rescues from rivers and dangerous gorges where rivers are in spate. They should be included in any legislation.

As with climbing, perhaps the most important safety aspect in relation to moving water is the fact that people need to be aware of the hazards and have the appropriate skills to prevent themselves or others from getting into incidents. The Safe-Tay charity in Perth, which was established to promote water safety and to prevent future tragedies in our rivers, is to be commended, and I hope that the idea will be extended to other parts of Scotland.

Above all, it is important to take a much more co-ordinated approach and bring together all our rescue services. On that point, I fully agree with the motion.