Mr. Silvesterasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department what proportion of the costs of (a) police and (b) fire services are staff costs for each of the metropolitan counties.
§ Mr. HurdThe information for the financial year 1981–82 is as follows:
consists of an official side, composed of representatives of the local authority associations and the Home Departments, and a staff side, composed of representatives of the three police staff associations.
The Home Secretary controls the number of civilian staff employed by the Metropolitan police and their pay. In other forces, the police authority or the county council employs the civilian staff and controls their number. Their pay is, by agreement, negotiated in the appropriate joint negotiating bodies, between representatives of the local 261W authorities and relevant trades unions. Central government are not represented on these bodies and play no part in the negotiations.
A fire authority's establishment is determined by the local authority, and there is no general requirement that the Home Secretary should approve it. Any reduction in the number of operational firemen or appliances, and the closure of fire stations, requires the Home Secretary's consent. Fire service pay is a matter for negotiation between representatives of fire authorities and their employees, in the national joint council for local authorities' fire brigades. The Home Secretary is not represented on it and its decisions are not subject to his approval.
The pay of civilian support staff in the fire service is determined in the same way as that of civilian staff in police forces outside the Metropolitan police.