§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many hotel beds have been lost by the closure of hotels consequent upon the strict application of the Fire Precautions Act 1971.
§ Dr. SummerskillThis information is not available, but 559 hotels which originally applied for fire certificates under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 are known to have closed. The reasons for closure are not known.
§ Sir J. Langford-Holtasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the estimated cost to the hotel industry of the Fire Precautions Act 151W 1971; and what percentage of this cost has been met by loans from local authorities made under the Fire Precautions (Loans) Act 1973.
§ Dr. SummerskillWe do not have information on which a reliable estimate could be made of the expenditure incurred by the hotel industry as a result of the Fire Precautions Act 1971. Up to the end of the financial year 1975–76 loan sanctions amounting to some £4 million had been granted to local authorities in England and Wales to enable them to provide loans under the Fire Precautions (Loans) Act 1973, but reports from local authorities indicate that only
152W
Fire Authority Estimated number of Hotels and Boarding-houses in area Fire certificate applications Premises inspected Certificate issued Estimated number of premises that have not applied (a) (b) (c) (d) % (e) Avon … … 637 575 282 189 (33) 62 Bedfordshire … … 66 66 66 59 (90) — Berkshire … … 135 135 122 99 (73) — Buckinghamshire … … 79 76 73 45 (60) 3 Cambridgeshire … … 143 143 140 120 (84) — Cheshire … … 175 156 156 136 (87) 19 Cleveland … … 149 135 121 68 (50) 14 Clwyd … … 370 330 326 165 (50) 40 Cornwall … … 4,182 2,682 1,521 800 (30) 1,500 Cumbria … … 1,579 1,514 893 405 (27) 65 Derbyshire … … 216 188 188 73 (40) 28 Devon … … 3,664 3,664 1,832 543 (15) — Dorset … … 4,552 2,552 555 224 (9) 2,000 Durham … … 87 87 87 73 (84) — Dyfed … … 804 704 324 125 (18) 100 Essex … … 370 370 369 318 (86) — Mid-Glamorgan … … 52 52 52 26 (50) — South Glamorgan … … 87 80 70 30 (37) 7 West Glamorgan … … 177 177 101 72 (41) — Gloucestershire … … 281 281 210 128 (46) — Greater London … … 2,051 1,551 1,525 1,240 (80) 500 Greater Manchester … … 232 232 221 171 (74) — Gwent … … 121 107 76 36 (34) 14 Gwynedd … … 1,189 1,189 567 217 (18) — Hampshire … … 738 738 575 287 (39) — Hereford and Worcester … … 268 256 198 65 (25) 12 Hertfordshire … … 122 122 119 73 (60) — Humberside … … 494 439 357 212 (48) 55 Kent … … 1,040 1,040 859 546 (52) — Lancashire … … 3,244 2,744 2,044 2,028 (74) 500 Leicestershire … … 121 121 91 53 (44) — Lincolnshire … … 323 302 301 261 (86) 21 Merseyside … … 269 240 240 201 (84) 29 Norfolk … … 1,077 1,027 687 472 (46) 50 Northamptonshire … … 79 74 72 57 (77) 5 Northumberland … … 151 151 147 112 (74) — Nottinghamshire … … 127 115 113 95 (83) 12 Oxfordshire … … 211 202 152 88 (44) 9 Powys … … 226 226 55 23 (10) — Salop … … 114 114 114 94 (82) — Scilly Isles … … 74 74 38 16 (22) — Somerset … … 389 389 189 84 (22) — Staffordshire … … 135 135 135 115 (85) — Suffolk … … 271 231 201 137 (60) 40 Surrey … … 170 170 169 126 (74) — limited use has been made of this authority.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now answer the Questions tabled by the hon. Member for Christchurch and Lymington relating to statistics connected with the implementation of the Fire Precautions Act in England and Wales, for 1976, which he was unable to answer in January due to insufficient time to collate the information.
§ Dr. SummerskillAccording to information provided by fire authorities, the position on 31st December 1976 was as follows:
153W
Fire Authority Estimated number of Hotels and Boarding-houses in area Fire certificate applications Premises inspected Certificates issued Estimated number of premises that have not applied (a) (b) (c) (d) % (e) East Sussex … … … 916 916 631 369 (40) — West Sussex … … … 475 275 270 124 (45) 200 Tyne and Wear … … … 222 202 199 138 (68) 20 Warwickshire … … … 192 192 187 170 (88) — West Midlands … … … 322 322 270 198 (61) — Wight, Isle of … … … 1,838 838 281 155 (18) 1,000 Wiltshire … … … 167 137 133 93 (68) 30 North Yorkshire … … … 1,612 1,562 653 362 (23) 50 South Yorkshire … … … 109 109 105 84 (80) — West Yorkshire … … … 217 217 215 168 (77) — Totals … … … 37,111 30,726 19,617 12,36 (40) 6,385 The figures in column(a) have been compiled by adding columns(b) and(e) together. The figures in columns(b) and(c) do not include premises found on inspection to be outside the scope of the Fire Precautions(Hotels and Boarding Houses) Order 1972 or subsequently taken outside the scope of the order. Fire authorities have no precise information about cases of failure to apply for a fire certificate; the figures in columns(e) and(a) should, therefore, be regarded as only rough estimates. The percentages in column(d) represent the figures in that column expressed as a proportion of the figures in column(b). Since there is no direct power of refusal of a fire certificate, fire authorities returns do not include information on this point. Of the hotels and boarding-houses which originally applied for fire certificates, 559 are known to have closed, 6,095 have reduced the amount of accommodation available, and 1,376 have changed use, although not necessarily because of inability to comply with the requirements of the Act. There have been 2,554 other cases of withdrawal of applications for reasons which are not known.