§ Mr. Lofthouseasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list the authorised establishment levels of uniformed firefighters for each of the metropolitan county brigades for each year from 1974 to the present, indicating where changes made to the basic working weeks have had an influence on the figures.
§ Mr. Giles ShawThere is no requirement for my right hon. and learned Friend's approval of fire brigade establishments. Closure of fire stations and reductions in the number of appliances or of whole-time members of a brigade whose duties normally include fire fighting and part-time members of a brigade require his consent under section 19 of the Fire Services Act 1947 (as amended). Details of establishments are published annually as a Command Paper in the Report of Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services. The report for 1983 (Cmnd 9277) contains at appendix 5 a bar chart showing the effect of successive reductions in a fireman's working week.