§ Mr. LetwinTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many(a) police officers and(b) firefighters have been trained in dealing with a CBRN incident in each local authority. [82553]
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§ Mr. Blunkett[holding answer 25 November 2002]The ability of police forces to respond to a terrorist attack involving the use of chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) materials is being strengthened through the increased provision of specialist police training. Home Office funding is being made available to meet the full running and equipment costs involved. Information about specific numbers of trained police officers in each local authority area is not at present held centrally, but in each police force, four senior officers have so far received training to Gold and Silver Command level. The total number of CBRN trained officers in London to date is approximately 1,100, with approximately 1,250 further officers CBRN trained in police forces in the United Kingdom. The training programme is on-going and I will update these figures on a regular basis.
I understand from my right hon. Friend the Deputy Prime Minister that individual records for firefighters training are not available centrally. Interim guidance on dealing with contaminated casualties following a CBRN attack was issued in December 2001. The majority of Fire Service personnel will have received training in these interim procedures, and approximately 120 of the Services' senior commanders have received multi-agency training, which is on-going.
All sides in the current firefighters dispute have agreed to provide cover for large scale terrorists or other civil contingency incidents.