§ Mr. Harry Howarthasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on the provision of central training facilities for the fire service in Great Britain.
§ Mr. Roy JenkinsI am glad to be able to announce that a new institution to be called the Fire Service Technical College will be established on the site of the existing Fire Service Training Centre at Moreton-in-Marsh. It will provide operational and other special training for men in the middle ranks of the Fire Service in Great Britain. This training will include new facilities for practical fireground work, improved facilities for training in fire prevention and courses for instruction in technical matters such as the use of breathing apparatus. Provision will continue to be made for emergency fire service training.
The College will accommodate 470 students. Building work will start towards the end of this year or early in 1.967 and will proceed as quickly as practicable. The estimated capital cost will be of the order of £4 million.
The present Fire Service College at Dorking will provide higher training facilities for the Service and will be renamed the Fire Service Staff College.