HC Deb 19 December 2002 vol 396 cc951-2W
John Barrett

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister if he will make a statement on the average response time to emergency fire calls during(a) the recent firefighters' strike and (b) full firefighter cover. [88485]

Mr. Raynsford

During the Fire Brigade Union strike between 22 and 30 November 2002, 10,793 fire-related incidents were dealt with by the armed forces and 1,367 by firefighters working for local authority fire brigades. The armed forces' remit was to ensure that all incidents were dealt with where there was a confirmed threat to life (Category A) or a possible threat to life (Category B). In the event, all non-life threatening (Category C) incidents were also attended. An analysis of serious fire-related incidents (mostly Category A) in the north-west of England showed an average response time by the armed forces of 7.2 minutes. The figure for serious incidents in London was 13.8 minutes, largely reflecting traffic problems; and in the south-west, which is a largely rural area, the average response time for serious incidents was 14.2 minutes. These figures are not directly comparable with Fire Service data as fire brigades' target response times are based on four risk categories, ranging from five minutes for main shopping and business centres to 20 minutes for rural areas. Nevertheless, they do demonstrate the highly professional job performed by the armed forces.

John Barrett

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister how many emergency fire calls were not answered during the recent firefighters' strike. [88486]

Mr. Raynsford

During the Fire Brigades Union strike from 22 to 30 November 2002, 30,278 fire-related 999 calls were received by the Joint Operational Control Centres. All such telephone calls were answered. Because of multiple calls per incident, this gave rise to 20,237 incidents. Around five per cent. of calls were filtered out immediately as not being emergencies, and advance police attendance turned back firefighter response in around 40 per cent. of cases. The armed forces therefore attended 10,793 incidents, and firefighters working for local authority fire brigades attended 1,367 incidents. All fire related incidents which required a firefighter response were attended.

It is not possible to identify separate data relating to the hours of darkness.