§ Mr. BurnsTo ask the President of the Board of Trade what plans he has for a review of the enforcement agencies for fire safety matters; and what the terms of reference for such a review will be.
§ Mr. HeseltineFollowing the announcement after the Prime Minister's last progress meeting on deregulation, that ways of eliminating duplication between enforcement agencies should be reviewed, and in response to concerns of business such as those of the deregulation task force for the construction industry, the Government have decided that there should be a review of those enforcement agencies responsible for fire safety. This review has started today with the following terms of reference
Taking account of the review of the operation and effectiveness of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 recently undertaken by the Home Office, to review the operation and effectiveness of all legislation for which Home Office, DOE and HSE have policy responsibility in relation to fire safety; to review the organisation arrangements of all relevant bodies and agencies, including local authorities, responsible for enforcing this legislation; and to make recommendations.The study should identify any areas of overlap, duplication or lack of clarity between the responsibilities of enforcement bodies, and should recommend ways of dealing with them. It should also address the practicability of bringing all policy responsibility for fire safety together in a single Department.The scrutiny will report to Ministers within the 90 working days which are allowed under efficiency scrutiny guidelines.
The Home Secretary, Secretary of State for the Environment, Secretary of State for Employment and I will be the supervising Ministers for the scrutiny.. The scrutiny team will be advised by a steering group which will include officials from interested Government Departments. The steering group which will be assisted by a contact group representing the interests of business users, constructors, the insurance industry and the various enforcement interests.