§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what was the pension deficit of(a) the west midlands fire service and (b) the west midlands civil defence authority for each of the last five years; and if he will give the estimated figures for 1996 and 2000. [19054]
§ Mr. SackvilleNet payments under the firefighters' pension scheme by west midlands fire and civil defence authority are given for the latest year for which central figures are available. The figures do not differentiate between fire and civil defence.
1989–90: £4.3 million 1990–91: £4.5 million 1991–92: £4.8 million 1992–93: £5.9 million 1993–94: £6.2 millionNo estimates of actual expenditure have been made by my right hon. and learned Friend in respect of the west midlands brigade for future years.
§ Mr. CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will make a statement on the efficiency of the community fire safety initiatives implemented by the west midlands fire and civil defence authority; [19049]
(2) what estimate he has made of the number of (a) preventable fire deaths and (b) preventable child fire deaths in the west midlands fire and civil defence authority in each of the last five years. [19051]
§ Mr. SackvilleThe west midlands fire service is to be commended for the priority which it has given to the work of its community relations department since 1991.
While it is difficult to establish a causal link between fire safety publicity and reductions in casualties, the fact that fire deaths are at their lowest level nationally for 30 years points to the effectiveness of fire safety campaigns and fire prevention work carried out by fire brigades.
Information on deaths is not available in the form requested. The available information is contained in table 60 of the Home Office publication "Fire Statistics—United Kingdom 1993", and previous years, which is available in the Library.