§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people died in house fires in each of the last five years for which figures are available in the age groups(a) 0 to 18, (b) 19 to 40, (c) 41 to 65 and (d) over 65 years. [29752]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe table shows the number of people who have died in dwelling1 fires attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 20002.
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1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.2 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
Age group Under 18 19–40 41–65 Over 65 1996 76 99 180 206 1997 68 113 145 234 1998 74 124 133 181 1999 45 90 136 183 20002 40 87 140 172
§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many people died in fires in houses of multiple occupation in each of the last five years for which figures are available. [29753]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe table shows the number of people who have died in fires in multiple occupancy dwellings1 attended by local authority fire brigades in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000.
1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They also include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling.
Number of deaths 1996 209 1997 201 1998 204 1999 171 20001 153 1 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
§ Bob RussellTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what action he is taking to reduce the number of fires in houses of multiple occupation. [29754]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe Housing (Fire Safety in Houses in Multiple Occupation) Order 1997 requires that local authorities ensure that adequate means of escape and other fire precaution equipment are provided in all houses in multiple occupation (HMOs) of at least three storeys. Local authorities are encouraged to use their discretionary powers to enforce adequate means of escape and other precautions in other types of HMOs. A local authority will not register an HMO under a control scheme applying to its district unless it is satisfied that adequate means of escape from fire and other precautions have been provided.
The Home Energy Conservation Bill currently before Parliament would provide for a mandatory control scheme for HMOs of certain categories. When parliamentary time allows, all HMOs will be covered by the new housing condition regime, the Housing Health and Safety Ratings System (HHSRS). This risk assessment based system will give greater flexibility to local authorities in dealing with the potential risk of fires in individual HMOs and in enforcing remedies, than under the existing system.
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§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many(a) deaths and (b) injuries were caused by fire in domestic homes by constituency in each of the past five years. [30630]
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Deaths and injuries in dwelling1 fires by brigade area, United Kingdom, 1996–2000 1996 1997 1998 1999 20002 Brigade area Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Avon 3 167 4 174 4 178 8 189 4 177 Bedfordshire 6 49 3 53 4 71 1 52 5 66 Berkshire 12 99 5 107 7 96 3 126 5 95 Buckinghamshire 4 90 7 81 2 85 4 112 7 112 Cambridgeshire 9 120 4 125 2 135 3 113 3 108 Cheshire 8 218 11 170 7 212 8 189 6 215 Cleveland 5 141 10 176 2 189 3 131 1 136 Cornwall 1 86 6 74 3 76 3 66 4 99 Cumbria 3 75 4 95 5 97 3 88 3 76 Derbyshire 5 184 7 156 8 152 7 132 9 145 Devon 6 211 4 279 6 266 4 232 7 279 Dorset 8 60 5 58 1 83 8 74 1 110 Durham 3 118 9 129 4 121 9 103 6 99 East Sussex 7 191 7 182 8 157 5 158 3 136 Essex 13 200 14 211 6 234 6 267 10 292 Gloucestershire 5 91 4 76 2 78 1 76 2 73 Hampshire 15 239 5 208 8 283 9 198 9 209 Hereford and Worcester 1 123 6 130 4 128 3 106 3 83 Hertfordshire 10 136 10 144 7 129 4 154 6 156 Humberside 8 261 7 217 10 229 5 264 7 204 Isle of Wight 1 29 1 18 1 22 0 15 0 22 Kent 12 239 7 268 5 278 5 244 9 234 Lancashire 19 487 22 538 15 439 15 490 17 497 Leicestershire 10 123 4 147 9 125 3 93 4 117 Lincolnshire 4 100 2 84 7 77 3 101 4 78 Norfolk 2 129 5 144 1 154 5 172 8 137 North Yorkshire 7 131 7 126 8 148 4 112 2 129 Northamptonshire 3 115 8 144 8 131 5 146 3 141 Northumberland 0 53 3 44 1 51 2 45 1 62 Nottinghamshire 11 241 16 324 10 257 8 295 3 287 Oxfordshire 10 125 4 76 8 121 5 155 1 135 Shropshire 1 72 3 61 0 61 1 60 8 73 Somerset 5 56 4 46 1 77 0 50 1 51 Staffordshire 7 218 10 233 8 305 7 241 8 211 Suffolk 0 108 6 87 6 76 1 103 4 64 Surrey 4 170 5 104 6 140 3 102 6 171 Warwickshire 1 51 2 57 4 36 2 57 6 59 West Sussex 2 125 5 121 4 123 7 138 3 153 Wiltshire 7 76 4 81 0 100 1 79 0 77 Greater Manchester 24 1,378 29 1,676 24 1,761 29 1,630 22 1,496 Merseyside 19 791 10 856 21 860 8 884 21 816 South Yorkshire 11 268 6 262 12 268 11 230 10 259 Tyne and Wear 12 370 5 428 16 361 5 324 5 347 West Midlands 19 744 16 767 19 776 22 737 26 633 West Yorkshire 35 678 24 707 23 652 20 622 22 611 Greater London 70 1,540 92 1,528 66 1,540 65 1,426 45 1,466 North Wales 7 197 5 184 10 187 5 197 3 159 Mid and West Wales 8 133 9 197 5 189 5 239 14 261 South Wales 18 334 16 394 15 369 11 380 8 359 Northern Ireland 7 503 26 488 24 443 27 431 13 417 Strathclyde 56 902 42 1,011 48 993 40 951 39 1,050 Highlands and Islands 7 43 5 55 8 65 1 64 3 47 Grampian 9 143 7 147 5 173 4 161 5 201 Tayside 4 132 3 98 5 132 5 168 5 160
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe table shows the number of deaths and injuries in dwelling fires for each local authority brigade area in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. Data are not available centrally below brigade area level; therefore separate figures cannot be supplied for each constituency.
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Deaths and injuries in dwelling1 fires by brigade area, United Kingdom, 1996–2000 1996 1997 1998 1999 20002 Brigade area Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Deaths Injuries Lothian and Borders 6 312 8 351 2 317 14 453 12 350 Fife 8 114 2 110 4 92 10 92 3 88 Central 6 67 4 59 2 60 3 86 0 71 Dumfries 0 33 3 30 2 21 4 21 0 32 1 Dwellings are defined as buildings occupied by households, excluding hotels, hostels and residential institutions. They also include caravans, houseboats and other non-building structures used solely as a permanent dwelling. 2 2000 data are estimated, and are subject to revision as later information from inquests and death certificates confirming cause of death is received.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many(a) deaths and (b) injuries were caused by fires in council-owned domestic homes by local authority in each of the past five years. [30631]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe information requested is not available centrally.
§ Mr. LlwydTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what initiatives are being pursued to promote the use of sprinkler systems in domestic houses; and if he will make a statement. [30632]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe Government are committed to reducing the number of accidental dwelling fire deaths. To underpin this commitment we have set a target to reduce preventable dwelling fire deaths by 20 per cent, by 31 March 2004. We aim to achieve this reduction through greater efforts in educating householders, by means of publicity campaigns, about what measures they can take to make their home safer from fire.
It has been our policy for some time that smoke alarms have a vital role to play in saving lives as they provide the vital early warning of fire and therefore help people to escape. Since 1987, when the cost of smoke alarms became affordable at around £5, we have conducted, and will continue to run high profile national and regional television campaigns promoting smoke alarms, which have proved very successful.
The Government nevertheless recognise that in some cases more direct protection from fire may be appropriate and therefore provides guidance on a range of other fire protection measures, such as domestic sprinklers. The issue of domestic sprinklers is included in the 'Toolbox' of education and publicity material developed by the National Community Fire Safety Centre for use by fire brigades and others. We also plan to produce later this year a publicity leaflet to inform the general public about domestic sprinklers.