HC Deb 02 March 1978 vol 945 cc313-4W
45. Mr. Evelyn King

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many men are employed overall in the Fire Service in England; how many servicemen were on duty doing their job when they were on strike; and if he is satisfied that the number of firemen required has been correctly assessed.

Mr. Merlyn Rees

The full-time and part-time strengths, including control room staff, of fire brigades in England at 31st December 1976, the most recent date for which figures have been published, were 30,956 and 13,229 respectively. During the recent firemen's strike, some 16,000 Service men were deployed on fire-fighting duties in England at any one time. 'The majority of regular fire officers were available to assist them and in those parts of the country in which fire cover is provided by part-time retained firemen, about 70 per cent. of them continued to provide fire cover without assistance from the Service men. It is for individual fire authorities to decide on the numbers of whole-time and part-time members of brigades needed to enable them to discharge the full range of their statutory duties.