§ Siobhain McDonaghTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when he will respond to the report of the Scoping Study in relation to arson prevention in England and Wales. [117116]
§ Mr. Mike O'BrienI am pleased to announce today that the Government have accepted all of the main recommendations of the Scoping Study.
We have pledged quite clearly our determination and commitment to providing safer communities. The police and fire services have a vital role to play in helping to maintain a safer society, not just by reducing crime and the fear of crime, but also by reducing the number of deliberate fires and associated deaths and casualties.
The report of the Arson Scoping Study was published last May and set out a series of recommendations aimed at addressing the growing problem of deliberate fires. The report was welcomed as an enormous opportunity for the Government and the police and fire services to reduce the pain and suffering caused by deliberately set fires.
When the report was published we made it clear that we wanted to hear the views of chief officers, local authorities, the insurers and all those involved in the administration of justice, all of whom have a crucial role to play in translating the recommendations into action. I am pleased to say that the response to the Scoping Study has provided a strong mandate to carry forward all of its key recommendations and for a refocusing of efforts to prevent arson.
138WI am writing to those same organisations today to explain how we intend to take the recommendations forward. In particular, I want to see the efforts of Government, police and fire authorities, the insurers and other local agencies integrated and co-ordinated as the Scoping Study 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 police and fire services and the insurers, the recommendation to create a new Government-led Arson Control Forum to take forward the arson prevention strategy.
Arson prevention must become a core activity of the police and fire services and we must work in partnership with other agencies and with business to eliminate deliberately set fires. The success of this approach will mean a safer society for us all.