§ Patrick MercerTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what training has been given to emergency services personnel in respect of coping with a potential chemical biological radiological nuclear incident. [184605]
§ Mr. RaynsfordPrimary responsibility for mass decontamination in the event of a CBRN incident has been given to the fire and rescue service, through the New Dimension programme of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister. The Government have provided a range of equipment to the fire and rescue service to improve its ability to cope with such an event, and are fully funding training to use this equipment.
Every firefighter has received basic CBRN training, which is now being followed by continuance training. Training has been provided by the Fire Service College and is complemented by a range of interactive training CDs and hard copy materials. Firefighters have also joined with the other emergency services in a range of local, regional and national exercises, such as that at Bank Underground station in September 2003, and the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham in July 2004. Responsibility for training the other emergency services lies with their sponsoring departments.