§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the starting salary of a fireman is in(a) London and (b) the rest of England; and when this salary will next increase. [54176]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe starting salary for a firefighter aged 18 in London is £20,111 rising to £20,897 after six months. Firefighters over 18 in London start on £20,378 rising to £21,152 after six months.
Outside London the starting salary for a firefighter aged 18 is £16,941 rising to £17,727 after six months. For those over 18 the starting salary is £17,208 rising to £17,982 after six months.
After four years a firefighter in London will be on £24,701 and £21,531 outside London.
Under the national pay agreement between local authority employers and the Fire Brigades Union the operative date for pay increases for firefighting staff is 7 November.
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§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what plans he has to increase the pay of fire service personnel. [54177]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThe Government has no statutory role in the determination of fire service pay. Pay arrangements are negotiated between the local authority employers and the representatives of the staff concerned.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions what the shortfall is in the number of firemen in the UK; and what measures he plans to introduce to increase numbers. [54178]
§ Dr. WhiteheadBased on figures taken from annual returns HM Fire Service Inspectorate, the difference between establishment and actual strength of whole-time and retained firefighters in England and Wales as at 31 March 2001, the most recent figure available, was as follows:
Establishment Actual Shortfall Whole time 33,640 33,376 264 Retained 14,940 12,028 2,912 Recruitment and increases in firefighter numbers are a matter for local fire authorities.
§ Mr. WrayTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport, Local Government and the Regions how many fire stations have(a) closed, (b) opened and (c) had improvements made to them since 1997. [54179]
§ Dr. WhiteheadThis information is not collected centrally. Information on the number of fire stations in each fire authority in England and Wales at 1 January for each year from 1997 to 2002 was given in my right hon. Friend's reply to a Question from the hon. Member for Maidenhead (Mrs. Theresa May) on 19 March 2002,Official Report, columns 239£242. On the basis of these returns, six fire stations have closed and five fire stations have opened since 1997. However, these figures may not include instances where the opening of a fire station is balanced by the closure of another in the same authority within a particular year.