§ Mr. Simsasked the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement about the review of the national recommended minimum standards of fire cover which has been undertaken by the central fire brigades' advisory councils for England and Wales and for Scotland.
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Table 1 Juveniles and vulnerable adults║ recorded as missing from outside the Metropolitan police district including overseas + including those outstanding from previous year‡ United Kingdom other than MPD, and overseas Number of persons* Year Male Female Total Under 14 14–17 18+ Total Under 14 14–17 18+ Total 1975 29 119 529 677 23 240 297 560 1,237 1976 30 101 625 756 24 220 322 566 1,322 1977 100 248 775 1,123 51 413 436 900 2,023 1978 36 144 917 1,097 34 326 544 904 2,001 1979 37 167 980 1,184 23 265 542 830 2,014 1980 47 168 1,075 1,290 16 214 555 785 2,075 1981 45 169 1,175 1,389 19 169 595 783 2,172 1982 53 164 1,216 1,433 40 174 563 777 2,210 1983 40 199 733 972 35 214 401 650 1,622 1984¶ 58 167 623 848 43 185 311 539 1,387 * The same person may be reported missing more than once. +These figures are not comprehensive because other forces are not required to report to the Missing Persons Bureau cases of missing juveniles and do not report to the bureau cases relating to non-vulnerable adults. ‡Persons recorded as missing at the end of the year plus those traced or identified during the year. ║"Vulnerable adults" include the elderly, the sick and those whose manner of disappearance gave cause for special concern ¶The figures for 1984 may have been increased by improved procedures for recording those missing for only a short period.
§ Mr. BrittanA joint committee of the central fire brigades' advisory councils began a review of the recommended minimum standards of fire cover and of the requirements of special emergency and other services in July 1981. The committee's review was completed in November 1984 and its report was subsequently presented to the advisory councils. The principal recommendations are that the current minimum standards should not be changed but that fire authorities should review the categorisation of the risk of fire in their areas in the light of guidance contained in the report. The advisory councils have endorsed the report's recommendations and so now do I and my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State for Scotland. Accordingly, the report, a copy of which has been placed in the Library, is being sent to fire authorities today together with a circular commending its recommendations to them. In addition, my right hon. Friend arid I have asked our fire service inspectorates to be ready to assist fire authorities in achieving consistency in application and to monitor how individual fire authorities carry out the recommendations in their areas.