New legislation to license outdoor activity centres should promote a “culture of safety” to prevent tragedies such as the one in Lyme Bay in March 1993 , says a Parliamentary report published this week.
The House of Commons committee on education received 90 submissions with “overwhelmingly unanimous views” on the need for statutory, not voluntary, regulation, according to Sir Malcolm Thornton, its chairman.
The report emphasises the need for independent, properly trained inspectors, operating in an OFSTED style framework. All centres should, ideally, be inspected within the first year of the scheme if it is to be credible, it adds.
Safety in outdoor activity centres, Second Report, House of Commons committee on education HMSO Pounds 18.40.
