Fire and Rescue Authorities (Hansard, 9 June 2004)

§ Lord Hanningfield
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What were the total start-up costs for each regional fire and rescue management board in England. [HL3059]

§ Lord Rooker
Regional management boards are joint committees set up for the efficient delivery of the six areas identified in the White PaperOur Fire and Rescue Service as benefiting from cross-regional collaboration. Start-up costs, which are not expected to be significant, will in due course be reflected in the accounts of the constituent fire and rescue authorities. The information requested is not held centrally.

§ Lord Hanningfield
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What are the estimated annual operating costs for each regional fire and rescue authority in England. [HL3060]

§ Lord Rooker
Apart from the London Fire and Emergency Authority, there are no region-wide fire and rescue authorities in England.
34WA
The Government have no plans to establish regional fire and rescue authorities outside the three areas that are holding referendums this autumn on the creation of an elected regional assembly.
In regions where there is a "Yes" vote it is unlikely that any new authority will be set up before 1 April 2007, and it is therefore too early to say what such an authority's annual operating costs will be.
For 2002–03, the most recent year for which outturn figures are available, the total expenditure of the existing fire and rescue authorities in the north-west, north-east and Yorkshire and Humberside was respectively £249 million, £108 million and £169 million.
The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does, however, expect there will be considerable medium term savings from a reduction in the number of fire and rescue authorities, in addition to those savings we expect to be generated by greater cross-regional collaboration between existing authorities.

§ Lord Hanningfield
asked Her Majesty's Government:
What assessment they have made of the financial costs of rebilling for local authorities and fire authorities as a result of in-year capping. [HL3061]

§ Lord Rooker
The financial costs of rebilling are among the arguments that designated authorities have made against being capped in-year. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister is currently considering the cases made and the authorities' estimates of the rebilling costs.