§ Dr. HampsonTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what response he has received from the national joint council for local authorities' fire brigades in answer to his request that a joint national joint council and Home Office working party should be set up to examine pay and conditions of service within the fire service; and if he will make a statement on the pay and conditions of service of the fire service.
§ Mr. John PattenThe chairman of the national joint council has recently written to my right hon. and noble Friend, enclosing a letter from the joint secretaries of the council which indicates its willingness to accept an ad hoc working party jointly constituted by the Home Office and the national joint council.
We wish to see the national joint council examine, fairly and with an open mind, the conditions of service-related issues raised by the Audit Commission's paper on value for money in the fire service, including rigid employment conditions. We also wish to see the council consider whether the current fire service pay formula represents the best way forward for the future.