Dr. Bennettasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he is aware that the national loss through fire damage in March amounted to over £13 million and that more than £1,000 million has been lost through fires since 1945; and whether he will consider the desirability of calling a special conference of industrialists to consider what further legislative steps should be taken to prevent fires in factories and other industrial buildings.
§ Mr. Merlyn ReesI am concerned at the growing fire losses revealed in the particulars published from time to time by the British Insurance Association, but the question whether further legislative steps should be taken must await the findings of the Departmental Committee on the Fire Service, which is inquiring into this among other problems. Meanwhile, the fire provisions of existing legislation such as the Factories Act, 1961 and the Offices, Shops and Railway Premises Act, 1963, though primarily concerned with the protection of life, contribute to the protection of property; the advice of the fire service on fire protection measures is freely available to industry and commerce and is being increasingly sought: and the Home Office co-ordinates the publicity, covering all aspects of fire safety, which is undertaken by central and local Government, insurance interests and other bodies.