§ Mr. Ieuan Wyn JonesTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is the total number of fire stations in each fire brigade area in the United Kingdom; and on average, how many people are served by each fire station according to each fire brigade area.
§ Mr. John PattenThe statistics for England and Wales, based on the annual returns by fire authorities of the fire brigade establishment scheme in force in their areas on 1 January 1990, are as follows:
292W
Fire brigade Fire stations Population Average population served Avon 23 956,200 41,573 Bedfordshire 14 530,700 37,907 Berkshire 19 752,900 39,626 Buckinghamshire 25 640,000 25,600 Cambridgeshire 28 652,740 23,312 Cheshire 24 951,900 39,662 Cleveland 15 553,400 36,893 Clwyd 18 407,000 22,611 Cornwall 32 460,000 14,375 Cumbria 38 487,000 12,815
Fire brigade Fire stations Population Average population served Derbyshire 31 918,720 29,636 Devon 58 1,010,000 17,413 Dorset 26 655,700 25,219 Durham 18 586,700 32,594 Dyfed 25 348,400 13,936 East Sussex 24 712,800 29,700 Essex 51 1,521,800 29,839 Gloucestershire 20 527,500 26,375 Gwent 20 445,500 22,275 Gwynedd 26 238,000 9,153 Hampshire 55 1,615,000 29,363 Hereford and Worcester 26 650,773 25,030 Hertfordshire 32 996,198 31,131 Humberside 31 846,500 27,306 Isles of Scilly 5 2,000 400 Isle of Wight 10 132,000 13,200 Kent 65 1,520,400 23,390 Lancashire 40 1,386,300 34,658 Leicestershire 19 885,500 46,605 Lincolnshire 37 590,000 15,946 London 114 6,764,074 59,334 Greater Manchester 41 2,585,200 63,053 Merseyside 28 1,448,139 51,719 Mid Glamorgan 24 534,700 22,279 Norfolk 40 752,100 18,803 Northamptonshire 22 575,000 26,136 Northumberland 19 304,850 16,044 North Yorkshire 36 713,100 19,808 Nottinghamshire 26 1,007,700 38,758 Oxfordshire 24 600,400 25,017 Powys 18 112,500 6,250 Shropshire 23 400,800 17,426 Somerset 24 457,700 19,071 South Glamorgan 8 403,400 50,425 South Yorkshire 27 1,315,000 48,704 Staffordshire 30 1,039,900 34,663 Suffolk 35 643,900 18,397 Surrey 24 999,752 41,656 Tyne and Wear 19 1,135,900 59,784 Warwickshire 20 484,200 24,210 West Glamorgan 12 362,800 30,233 West Midlands 41 2,617,242 63,835 West Sussex 28 708,000 28,286 West Yorkshire 52 2,056,600 39,550 Wiltshire 24 564,000 23,500 Population is just one factor among many—fully explained in fire service circular No. 4/1985, copies of which are in the Library—used in categorising risk and thus determining the number, location and staffing of fire stations.