Tuesday 15 September,10.00,
Grimond Room, Portcullis House
After a record-breaking summer of devastating wildfires
across Britain, the EFRA Committee questions the government on
its lack of firefighting aircraft, a joined-up
strategy and prevention techniques.
National Fire
Chiefs Council data shows there were more
wildfires in the year to 16 August than in all of 2025, due
to increasingly frequent heatwaves and drought conditions placing
greater pressure on fire and rescue services.
England, Scotland and Wales all saw large scale
incidents, including military deployment in South Wales; 19
homes destroyed in Stourbridge and thousands of hectares of
National Parkland scorched in the Cairngorms.
The panel includes Ministers and senior civil servants from
Defra and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local
Government (MHCLG).
Defra is responsible for land
management, nature and water supply, while MHCLG
oversees the country's fire and rescue services, as well
as local and regional government.
The cross-party Committee will ask about the country's
firefighting capability, including its lack of
firefighting aircraft and when these assets will become
available, and whether fire services are sufficiently
resourced and have reliable access to water during
droughts.
There may be questions on whether changes should be made to
regulations that have restricted
controlled winter burnings as a method of wildfire
prevention, whilst Natural
England instead advocates for restoring
peatland.
MPs will also want to get to the bottom of which department has
ownership of a strategy to tackle wildfires; how they collaborate
on this issue; what lessons are being learnt from
abroad, and how they can help forge
stronger relationships between firefighters, land managers
and local authorities.
There may also be questions on topics such as support for
communities impacted by fires; removing barriers to
landowners building reservoirs; and the government's first use of
the Emergency Alert system that appeared on mobile phones on 14
August.
Witnessesfrom10.00:
-
, Parliamentary
Under Secretary of State, Defra
- Gabrielle Edwards, Interim Director for Strategy, Governance
and Climate, Defra
-
of Leeds CBE, Minister for
Building Safety, Fire and Resilience, MHCLG
- Peter Lee, Director for Fire, MHCLG
