Mark Allen's Law - we want throwline stations around all bodies of open water
103,527 people signed this petition to the UK Parliament after it opened on 29 March 2021; it closed on 29 September 2021. The Government responded on 1 July 2021. MPs debated it in Westminster Hall on 24 January 2022.
The petition
The petition's creator is not named in the Petitions site's published record. Quoted in full from the UK Parliament petitions site.
Mark Allen's Law - we want throwline stations around all bodies of open water
Mark Allen, aged 18, drowned after jumping into a freezing reservoir on a hot day in June 2018.
In May 2019 we watched whilst 3 throwlines were installed where he died.
Mark could have possibly been saved if they were in place beforehand.
We, Mark’s family and friends, feel that the Government should require by law that throwlines are placed in designated places around every reservoir, Lake, canal etc.
Speaking to people who work in water safety (fire services etc) such throwlines have saved many lives.
We want to save lives and save people from going through the heartbreak and tragedy of losing someone they love to drowning.
The Government's response
The Government published its response on 1 July 2021. Its summary:
This tragic loss of life highlights the importance of landowner's responsibility to assess and act on the risks posed by open bodies of water on their land.
The opening 355 words of the 578-word response:
Accidental drowning is a terrible tragedy for the victim and their families and highlights the importance of everyone being aware of the risks posed by water. The risks posed by open bodies of water should be assessed and acted on by the responsible landowner.
The majority of reservoirs are owned by the major water companies. The Environment Agency manages rivers and the Canal and Rivers Trust manage the canal network and all have a responsibility to ensure these are safe.
Local authorities will be responsible for a minority of bodies of water, including some beaches, and as a result the Local Government Association (LGA) has produced a water safety toolkit for councils, to ensure both locals and visitors enjoy the natural environment safely whether on the coast or inland.
It shows the importance of everyone being aware of the risks posed by water. This toolkit suggests a number of ways councils might seek to work in partnership to tackle water safety in their area. Councils want communities to enjoy open spaces and leisure facilities in their areas and to ensure that both locals and visitors enjoy the natural environment safely. This toolkit is to help councils create a partnership and plan to do that. Details of the toolkit can be found here: https://www.local.gov.uk/topics/community-safety/water-safety-toolkit
The LGA first produced a water safety toolkit for councils in 2017. They have since updated the toolkit, drawing on the Royal Life Saving Society’s (RLSS) work on creating a water safety action group and local water safety plan and their previous work.
Their document, A practical implementation guide to setting up a Water Safety Action Group and designing a local Water Safety Plan, can be found on their website (https://www.rlss.org.uk/) and provides a comprehensive look at these issues. This toolkit provides an overview of the steps councils should consider when looking at water safety in their local area.
Employers and the self-employed, whose undertaking includes work activity close to open water, are required under the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, to take steps to prevent employees and other people from coming to harm due to their work activities.
Read the full response on the petitions site.
Where the signatures came from
Signatures came from 650 constituencies on the boundaries used until the 2024 general election. The largest number, 615, came from Alyn and Deeside.
103,299 of the signatures were from the UK and 228 from elsewhere, by the location signers gave.
| Constituency | Signatures |
|---|---|
| Alyn and Deeside | 615 |
| Southport | 606 |
| Chorley | 596 |
| Clwyd West | 585 |
| Vale of Clwyd | 566 |
| Delyn | 521 |
| Harrogate and Knaresborough | 475 |
| Ynys Môn | 439 |
| Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford | 432 |
| Vale of Glamorgan | 424 |
| Region | Signatures |
|---|---|
| North West | 16,466 |
| South East | 14,834 |
| Wales | 10,625 |
| South West | 10,536 |
| East of England | 8,397 |
| West Midlands | 8,353 |
| East Midlands | 6,692 |
| Yorkshire and The Humber | 6,669 |
| Scotland | 6,654 |
| London | 4,685 |
| North East | 3,818 |
| Northern Ireland | 2,244 |
Debate in Parliament
MPs debated the petition in Westminster Hall on 24 January 2022. Read the debate in Hansard. House of Commons Library debate pack.
Source and receipt
- https://petition.parliament.uk/archived/petitions/575967.jsonUK Parliament Petitions API · read 2026-10-15 · SHA-256
3cb8df86907b091b… - The petition on petition.parliament.uk
The petition's words are its creator's and the response is the Government's; this site quotes both and gives no view on either. Signature counts can still change while a petition is open. To report an error, send a correction request.