§ Mr. Litherlandasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will give the fire statistics on the number of deaths by fire in houses in multiple occupation in England and Wales for the years 1979 to 1984.
§ Mr. MellorTotal numbers of fatal casualties from fires in dwellings in multiple occupation in England and Wales are published in "Fire Statistics, United Kingdom"—table 29 of the latest issue, for 1982. The table gives the breakdown between houses and other dwellings. The information for 1983 is not yet available. For further information about fires in multiple occupied dwellings in the United Kingdom, I refer the hon. Member to the replies given to questions from the hon. Member for Woolwich (Mr. Cartwright) on 9 April at columns 62–65.
Fatal casualties from fires in dwellings in multiple occupation England and Wales 1979 *1980 1981 †l982 Detached, semi-detached and terraced houses in multiple occupation 113 117 110 53 Other dwellings in multiple occupation 78 74 80 112 Unspecified dwellings in multiple occupation 1 1 1 — Total 192 192 191 165 * About 1 per cent, of fire fatalities in 1980 were not reported as a result of industrial action and are therefore excluded. † The breakdown between (i) detached, semi-detached and terraced houses and (ii) other dwellings in multiple occupation was affected by a change in the completion of the fire report forms from February 1982 and the figures for 1982 are not comparable with those for earlier years. Fuller instructions were issued to brigades and this appears to have contributed to a decrease in the figures for houses in multiple occupation and an increase in those for other dwellings in multiple occupation relative to earlier years.