Fire Safety (Hansard, 7 April 1998)

§ Mr. George Howarth

I am pleased to announce today that the Government have accepted all the main recommendations of the Community Fire Safety Task Force.

We have pledged quite clearly our determination and commitment to providing safer communities. The fire service has a vital role to play in helping to achieve a safer society, not just by "fighting fires, but by reducing the number of fires, deaths and casualties.

The Community Fire Safety Task Force were established to advise on a new strategy for England and Wales to reduce significantly the incidence of fire in the home. The report they produced last November was welcomed as an enormous opportunity both for the Government and the fire service to reduce the pain and suffering caused by dwelling fires.

I made it clear when the report was published that we wanted to hear the views of chief officers, fire authorities and the Unions, all of whom have a crucial role to play in translating the strategy into action. I am pleased to say that the response to the Task Force report has provided a strong mandate for almost all of their key proposals and for a refocusing of effort towards prevention and safety.

I am writing to those same organisations today to explain how we intend to take the strategy forward. In particular, I want to see the efforts of Government, fire authorities and other local agencies integrated and co-ordinated as the Task Force recommended, so that the whole effort achieves more than the sum of its parts. We shall be taking steps to put these arrangements in place shortly. I also accept, with the strong endorsement of the fire service, the recommendation that community fire safety should be made a statutory duty.

Community Fire Safety must become a core activity of the fire service, and we must work in partnership with other agencies and with business to eliminate preventable fires. The success of this approach will mean a safer society for us all.