§ 39. Miss Baconasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the exceptional circumstances under which men are admitted to the fire services even if they do not reach the minimum standard of five feet seven inches in height and 37-39 inch chest.
§ Mr. EdeThe circumstances are the possession of exceptional qualifications likely to be of use to the Fire Service.
§ Miss BaconIs my right hon. Friend aware that I have been in communication 520 with his Department about a man who has spent six years in the Forces as a fire fighter, during four of which he was in charge of a fire fighting section on an R.A.F. station, that this man has been twice mentioned in dispatches for bravery as a fire fighter, but that he has been refused admission to the Fire Service because he is one inch below height and two inches below chest measurement, and that in the reply that I have received from the right hon. Gentleman's Department it is stated that only in exceptional circumstances is any relaxation allowed?
§ Mr. EdeOne has to bear in mind that in addition to the disqualifications mentioned, people by increasing age also become unsuitable for continued employment in the Fire Service, and it is exceedingly difficult to allow people to enter the Service, whose physical and other disabilities may make them a source of danger to comrades in the Service.