§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in theOfficial Report for each fire authority in England and Wales for each of the last five years (a) the number of domestic fires described as doubtful, where malicious or deliberate ignition is suspected, and (b) the number of domestic fires where malicious ignition has been established beyond reasonable doubt.
§ Mr. John PattenThe readily available information does not separate suspected deliberate fires from those where it is established beyond reasonable doubt that a fire was started deliberately. A total for the number of deliberate and possibly deliberate fires in occupied buildings for each fire brigade area is published annually in "Fire Statistics United Kingdom", (table 64 for 1986, table 63 for 1985, table 60 for 1984, table 58 for 1983 and table 57 for 1982). Comparable data for 1987 are expected to be published in spring 1989. Provisional estimates for 1987 are given in the following table.
135W
Deliberate or possibly deliberate fires, by brigade area, 1987 Number England and Wales Total 15,271 England—Non-metropolitan counties: Avon 239 Bedfordshire 141 Berkshire 159 Buckinghamshire 130 Cambridgeshire 101 Cheshire 269 Cleveland 236 Cornwall 39 Cumbria 90 Derbyshire 111 Devon 153 Dorset 107 Durham 129 East Sussex 144 Essex 212 Gloucestershire 98 Hampshire 215 Hereford and Worcester 109 Hertfordshire 146 Humberside 314 Isle of Wight 18 Kent 355 Lancashire 365 Leicestershire 207 Lincolnshire 70 Norfolk 130 North Yorkshire 96 Northamptonshire 176 Northumberland 63
Number Nottinghamshire 363 Oxfordshire 70 Shropshire 79 Somerset 53 Staffordshire 175 Suffolk 107 Surrey 188 Warwickshire 100 West Sussex 100 Wiltshire 70 England—Metropolitan counties: Greater Manchester 1,490 Merseyside 1,238 South Yorkshire 302 Tyne and Wear 713 West Midlands 1,295 West Yorkshire 756 Greater London 2,935 Wales: Clwyd 69 Dyfed 28 Gwent 86 Gwynedd 51 Mid Glamorgan 152 Powys 16 South Glamorgan 146 West Glamorgan 67
§ Mr. Gareth WardellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will publish in the Official Report for each fire authority in England and Wales whether it has a specialist fire investigation team.
§ Mr. John PattenOnly the London and West Midlands fire and civil defence authorities have full-time specialist fire investigation teams. About half the remaining fire authorities have teams whose members combine their duties with other responsibilities. But all fire authorities now have officers trained in fire investigation techniques and are able to use their services, ad hoc, whether individually or as a team as circumstances demand.