§ Lord Brookmanasked Her Majesty's Government:
Further to the Written Answer by the Lord Rooker on 6 April (WA 225), what are their reasons for placing responsibility for the fire and rescue service and the fire safety enforcement in separate directorates within the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; how under such an arrangement their declared strategic approach to fire prevention, fire protection and service reform will be maintained; and what advice on the transfer of responsibility has been sought from the practitioners' forum and the business and community safety forum. [HL2776]
§ The Minister of State, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (Lord Rooker)This change was part of a broader restructuring of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, designed to improve its capacity to deliver its key objectives. Under the new structure, responsibility for fire precautions required in new buildings and those required for the use of buildings once completed have been brigaded together, and alongside policy and delivery relating to other aspects of the built environment, within the new Sustainable Communities Group. The lead responsibility for the fire and rescue service itself is located within the new Local Government and Fire Group, which leads on local services generally. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's board remains responsible, under ministerial oversight, for ensuring that the current 111WA strategic approach to fire prevention, fire protection and service reform will be maintained and where possible enhanced. The practitioners' forum and the business and community safety forum are currently being consulted on a proposal for the PSA target on fire, which the office plans to adopt in respect to this strategic approach.