Opened the debate
Nick Thomas-Symonds is concerned about the devastating impact of wildfires on his constituency, including carbon emissions, damage to common land, and disruptions to water supplies and farming. He cites data showing Torfaen had the fourth highest intensity of carbon emissions per square kilometre in the world in July 2026, affecting up to 270 hectares of common land and causing livestock losses and income reductions for farmers. He highlights the pressure on the South Wales fire and rescue service, which recorded over 10,000 cumulative incident hours during the wildfire period.
Government Response
Florence Eshalomi
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I start by thanking my right hon. Friend the Member for Torfaen (Nick Thomas-Symonds) for securing this important debate. Wildfires have had a profound impact on communities in Wales and across the UK this year. The scale of the challenge this summer was stark. More than 1,300 wildfires have been recorded across England, and I know that Wales was similarly impacted, resulting in the deployment of around 200 military personnel to south Wales to support the committed frontline crews protecting their communities. At the height of the activity, 11 major incidents were declared in a day across the UK, and some incidents lasted for more than 30 days. That put immense strain on frontline services that were also dealing with other emergencies. We owe immense gratitude to the firefighters, military personnel, local responders, land managers, volunteers and others who worked in difficult and dangerous conditions to protect people, homes, businesses and the natural environment. My hon. Friend raises an important point that demonstrates that wildfires cannot be responded to by emergency services alone: it takes the community, the people, voluntary organisations and a number of charities working together to respond. It is important that we have in place an action plan that includes cross-border and cross-Government work on responses. I will come on to that point, but I agree with my right hon. Friend. One of the reasons that the Prime Minister is calling the summit is to address that issue and to consider the national capability to respond. We want to make sure that we do not have a situation where we have more wildfires. Despite the advances, the severity of this year's incidents exposes areas where arrangements must and can improve, including cross-border co-ordination, consistent data, forecasting public warnings, and the way that operational learning is shared. Aerial firefighting is another area that we need to re-examine, including how we most effectively utilise capability across the four nations. This is vital in ensuring that firefighters on the ground get the best possible support when the terrain, scale or accessibility makes their jobs especially difficult. The Government will hold a wildfire summit this autumn in response to these challenges, bringing together fire chiefs, the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Fire Brigades Union, and other key organisations, to turn the lessons from 2026 wildfires into action. The agenda and themes for the summit have not been decided, but I am sure we will want to ensure that hon. and right hon. Members are able to feed in. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs have established joint governance to develop a wildfire action plan. Work is already under way to improve forecasting and risk mapping, develop specialist capability and learn from this summer, ahead of future periods of heightened risk. Better emergency response is only one part of the answer; wildfire resilience also depends on what happens before a fire starts. That means better forecasting and public information, responsible behaviour, proportionate land management and strong local readiness. By acting on the lessons learned this year, we can improve readiness, strengthen specialist support, and make sure that Governments and responders share learning that has practical value. The Government are determined to support those on the frontline by ensuring that they have the capability, support and partnership they need to meet future challenges. I thank my right hon. Friend for highlighting that; he will know that the National Fire Chiefs Council, the Fire Brigades Union and firefighters, alongside other organisations and groups, will be at the seminar. I am sure they will make their voices and representations heard loud and clear. I also want to highlight the two constituents mentioned by my right hon. Friend, Anthony Watkins and Sara Warman, for their work and effort in making sure we continue to work in co-operation with UK Governments including the Welsh Government, looking at shared learning, resilience and ensuring that the right funding is brought forward to address these key areas. In conclusion, I once again thank my right hon. Friend for securing this debate and bringing the issue to the House. I will take that away and write back to my right hon. Friend with further details. He will be aware that MHCLG also announced a £97 million upgrade to the national resilience assets, including equipment and national wildfire response capability pilots, with specialist firefighters, equipment and training positioned right across the UK.