HC Deb 26 October 1995 vol 264 cc770-1W
Mr. Barry Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what is his estimate of the number of people employed in the fire service in Wales in each of the brigades. [38985]

Mr. Kirkhope

The following table shows the establishment figures as at 1 January 1995 which have been taken from returns made by the brigades:

Regular firefighters Retained firefighters Control room personnel
Clwyd 185 225 22
Dyfed 228 342 17
Mid Glamorgan 335 264 21
South Glamorgan 323 24 17
West Glamorgan 247 111 18
Gwent 286 189 20
Gwynedd 105 418 15
Powys 31 257 9
Total 1,740 1,830 139

Mr. Barry Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will make a statement on response rates by the fire brigades in Wales. [38988]

Mr. Kirkhope

The following table shows the average response time in minutes in respect of fire incidents, taken from when the brigade answered the first call to when the first fire appliances attended at the fireground:

Brigade 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993
Clywd 7 7 8 7 7
Dyfed 9 9 9 9 8
Gwent 8 8 7 8 7
Gwynedd 9 9 9 9 10
Mid Glamorgan 9 8 9 9 9
Powys 10 11 11 10 10
South Glamorgan 6 6 6 7 6
West Glamorgan 7 7 7 7 6

Mr. Barry Jones

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what has been the annual budget for each fire brigade in Wales, in real terms, in each of the last five years; and if he will make a statement. [38986]

Mr. Kirkhope

The budgeted net current expenditure for the brigades concerned—at constant 1995–96 prices—is as follows:

£ million
1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96
Clwyd 8.8 8.7 8.8 8.8 9.5
Dyfed 9.1 9.2 8.7 9.2 9.2
Gwent 11.7 11.3 11.6 11.6 11.4
Gwynedd 6.1 5.9 6.2 6.2 6.1
Mid Glamorgan 12.8 12.8 13.1 13.1 13.0
Powys 2.9 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.9
South Glamorgan 10.0 9.7 9.8 10.0 9.9
West Glamorgan 10.3 9.4 9.7 10.0 10.1