Ming: Lessons not learnt on floods

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Menzies Campbell is to claim the Government has failed to learn the lessons of this summer's devastating floods.

Sir Menzies will visit a closure-threatened fire and rescue control centre which was at the heart of efforts to tackle the flooding in Gloucestershire.

He will claim the Government is going "full speed ahead on moves which may lead to increased risk of devastation" by seeking to reduce the number of fire control centres and by allowing building on flood plains.

The fire and rescue service faces being moved out of the TriService unit near Gloucester as part of plans to introduce regional control centres.

Sir Menzies will say: "The Government is compromising safety and could be putting lives at risk by introducing regional fire and rescue control centres.

"Closing down locally-based centres will severely undermine a community's ability to cope with emergency situations such as flooding, while regional centres will lack crucial local knowledge.

"Criticism of this move has come from all sides, including the Fire Brigade Union and Parliamentary select committee reports, but the Government is not listening."

In relation to building on flood plains, he will say: "Only a few days ago, 5,000 residents in Tewkesbury marched in protest against building on flood plains.

"The Government must put the minds of these residents and the British public at rest by giving responsibility for flood defences to one agency who will ensure defences are adequate before any building takes place.

The Government plans to replace the control rooms of England's 46 fire brigades with nine regional centres. A spokesman for the Department for Communities and Local Government said: "The Government is committed to providing the resilient fire control system that the country needs to meet the challenges of today's world."