§ Mr. ShepherdTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will publish Her Majesty's Fire Services Inspectorate's comments on the fire risk categorisation survey which have been made available to members of the West Midlands Fire and Civil Defence Authority; [4500]
(2) what the result was of the West Midlands Fire Service's recent fire risk category survey in Aldridge and Bloxwich; which buildings' risk categorisation is (a) B and (b) C; which buildings in each category have been (i) upgraded and (ii) downgraded by the survey; and what proportion these are of the total. [4499]
§ Dr. WhiteheadI have been asked to reply
Responsibility for providing fire services rests locally with the fire authority. The authority cannot provide a building by building analysis of fire risk categorisation because risk categories are expressed in terms of the "predominant risk" of an area. The methodology used has been validated by HM Inspector of Fire Services in order to ensure consistency across the area and with other fire authorities.