§ Mr. Sainsburyasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will now update the statistics in compliance with the Fire Precautions Act 1971 given in the answer provided to the hon. Member for Christchurch and Lymington (Mr. Adley) on 31 July 1978.
§ Mr. BrittanAccording to information provided by fire authorities in England and Wales the position on 31 December 1978 regarding the fire certification under the Fire Precautions Act 1971 of hotels and boarding houses was as follows:
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Fire authority Fire certificate applications Premises inspected Certificates issued Premises awaiting inspection (1) (2) (3) (%) (4) Staffordshire … … 137 134 128 (93) Suffolk … … 233 224 197 (84) 9 Surrey … … 189 188 155 (82) 1 East Sussex … … 879 858 657 (74) 21 West Sussex … … 284 275 239 (84) 9 Tyne and Wear … … 196 194 173 (88) 2 Warwickshire … … 202 194 185 (91) 8 West Midlands … … 308 299 258 (84) 9 Wight, Isle of … … 951 594 460 (48) 357 Wiltshire … … 147 146 125 (85) 1 North Yorkshire … … 1,373 1,058 726 (52) 315 South Yorkshire … … 101 101 95 (94) 0 West Yorkshire … … 216 215 201 (93) 1 Totals … … 28,277 24,168 19,237 (68) 4,109 Notes
(i)The figures in columns (1) and (2) do not include premises found on inspection to be outside the scope of the Fire Precautions (Hotels and Boarding Houses) Order 1972 (S.I. 1972 No. 238) or subsequently taken outside the scope of the Order.
(ii) The percentages in column (3) represent the figures in that column expressed as a proportion of the figures in column (1).
(iii) No accurate information is available as to the number of hotels and boarding houses which have closed, reduced the amount of accommodation available or changed use specifically in consequence of the Fire Precautions Act 1971.
(iv) During 1978 only one appeal was made under section 9 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 against notices of requirements issued in respect of hotels and boarding houses under section 5(4) of the Act.
Grant of Loans
According to the information provided by local authorities the following amounts have been loaned to hotels and guest houses under the Fire Precautions (Loans) Act 1973 during the financial year 1978–79:
District Council Amount £ Brecknock … … … 8,000 Grimsby … … … 4,000 South Wight … … … 2,400