Overview

• Darren Paffey has secured a backbench debate and launched an All-Party Parliamentary Group to push for mandatory water safety education following the 2023 Bournemouth beach drownings
• Education minister Catherine McKinnell confirmed the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill will mandate swimming instruction and water safety across all state-funded schools
• Royal Life Saving Society UK data show nearly 150 children in England, Scotland and Wales have died in water-related incidents over the past three years
• Only 74% of pupils leave primary school able to swim 25 metres unaided, and children from deprived areas face double the risk of drowning
• Paffey is urging the government to develop a national strategy for monitoring swimming lesson delivery and to create a dedicated water safety ministerial role