§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many hotels and boarding houses have (a) closed, (b) reduced their number of letting bedrooms below the qualifying level, (c) been converted to self-catering establishments through inability to comply with the requirements of the fire officers acting under the terms of the Fire Precautions Act 1971.
§ Mr. Harry EwingFire authorities do not record information of this kind.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland (1) if he will list, for all fire authority areas (a) the number of hotels and boarding houses in each area, (b) the numbers that have applied for certification under the provisions of the Fire Precautions Act 1971, (c) the number that have been inspected, (d) the number that have been refused certificates, and (e) the number of hotels and boarding houses which have not yet applied to be inspected;
184W(2) if he will list, by fire authority area, the percentage of hotels and boarding houses in each area which have now been issued with a fire certificate under the terms of the Fire Precautions Act.
§ Mr. Harry EwingAccording to the information provided by fire authorities the position at 30th September was as follows:
HOTELS AND BOARDING HOUSES Fire Brigade Area Number of applications for fire certificates (1) Number of premises inspected (2) Number issued with fire certificate (showing percentage of applications) (3) Central 229 200 104 (45) Dumfries and Galloway 289 280 198 (68.5) Fife 168 161 91 (54) Grampian 762 432 375 (50) Lothian and Borders 657 619 455 (69) Northern 1,524 427 181 (12) Strathclyde 1,382 988 466 (34) Tayside 512 512 499 (97.5) Detailed information about the total number of hotels and boarding houses or the number which have not yet applied to be inspected is not recorded by the fire authorities; and since there is no direct power of refusal for certificates under the Act, their returns do not include information about this.
The figures in columns (1) and (2) do not include premises found on inspection to be outside the scope of the Fire Precautions (Hotels and Boarding Houses) (Scotland) Order 1972, or subsequently taken outside the scope of the order.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland how many appeals by small hotels and boarding houses against the requirements of fire authorities have been made following the passing of the Fire Precautions Act; and if he will list them for each fire authority area.
§ Mr. Harry EwingRecords are not kept centrally but, according to information provided by the fire authorities, there have been only two appeals in Scotland under Section 9 of the Fire Precautions Act 1971 and these were subsequently withdrawn.
§ Mr. Adleyasked the Secretary of State for Scotland if he is satisfied with the rate of issue of fire certificates to hotels 185W and boarding houses under the terms of the Fire Precautions Act 1971; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Harry EwingAlthough he would like to see faster progress, my right hon. Friend is satisfied that fire authorities are dealing with this work as quickly as possible.