§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if new recruits to the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade receive training in dealing with civil disturbance. [118001]
§ Mr. George HowarthNew recruits to the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade receive training in dealing with civil disturbance incidents along the same lines as new recruits to other Fire Brigades in Great Britain.
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many civil disturbance call-outs the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade has attended in each month since 1 January 1998. [118002]
§ Mr. George HowarthThe table sets out the number of call-outs attended by the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade where the Brigade met with hostility. These include incidents when children threw stones at appliances.
Civil disturbances attended by Northern Ireland fire brigade January 1998-February 2000 Month 1998 1999 2000 January 17 23 26 February 20 21 12 March 46 72 — April 35 59 — May 58 69 — June 59 54 — July 743 79 — August 54 75 — September 33 35 — October 47 43 — November 29 17 — December 15 8 — Total 1,156 555 38
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what differences apply to the(a) financial and (b) leave arrangements within the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade in respect of (i) whole-time fire officers and (ii) retained fire officers. [118003]
§ Mr. George HowarthFire-fighters in Northern Ireland are entitled to the same rate of pay and leave as fire-fighters in Great Britain. Northern Ireland fire-fighters also receive a Northern Ireland allowance of four days additional leave. The allowance works out at £24.99 a week for whole-time fire-fighters and £1.24 extra per incident attended for retained fire-fighters. Neither the allowance nor the additional leave entitlement applies to new recruits who joined from 3 August 1999.
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what differences in respect of duties, including civil disturbance call-outs, apply between(a) whole-time and (b) retained fire officers who are remunerated at different rates within the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade. [118004]
§ Mr. George HowarthThere are no differences in the duties of whole-time and retained fire-fighters.
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland what role the Labour Relations Agency played in the 1986 agreement to pay a Northern Ireland Allowance to Northern Ireland Fire Brigade officers; and if that allowance is still paid. [118005]
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§ Mr. George HowarthIn 1986 the Labour Relations Agency acted as arbitrator in a dispute concerning the level of Northern Ireland Allowance being paid to fire-fighters. The allowance is still being paid to all personnel employed prior to 3 August 1999.
§ Mr. MaginnisTo ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland if the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade has had a two-tier contract of employment pay system imposed; and if he will list those fire brigades in Great Britain which operate two-tier systems. [118093]
§ Mr. George HowarthIn November 1998 the Chief Fire Officer of the Northern Ireland Fire Brigade wrote to the Fire Brigades Union telling them of his intention to issue new Contracts of Service to new recruits to the Fire Brigade. The new contracts, which were introduced for recruits joining from 3 August 1999, maintained the same conditions re basic pay, etc., that apply across the United Kingdom for all fire-fighters but removed a number of local conditions, one of which was the payment of the Northern Ireland Allowance. The contracts of existing fire-fighters were not affected. There is of course room for other brigades to have local pay enhancements and conditions—for example, different rates of London Weighting Allowance.