Fire and Rescue Services Bill

HC Deb 22 March 2004 vol 419 cc636-7W

Mr. Liddell-Grainger

To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, what help will he give to help retain fire stations under the new Fire Bill. [181866]

Mr. Raynsford

The Fire and Rescue Services Bill re-enacts the existing statutory duty for a fire and rescue authority to make provision for extinguishing fires and protecting life and property from fires within its area. The Bill also includes duties covering the role of fire and rescue authorities in dealing with road traffic accidents and other serious emergencies and promoting fire safety.

The Government's previously recommended standards of fire cover will be superseded from 1 April 2004 when Fire and Rescue Authorities implement their first agreed Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs). These plans will detail locally determined response standards on the basis of Authorities' assessment of risks to life in the community.

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister has provided authorities with written guidance and supported the development of their IRMPs with an HM Fire Service Inspectorate-led implementation support team. By mid-April the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister will also have provided each fire and rescue service with a computer toolkit known as Fire Service Emergency Cover (FSEC) that models the impact of fire cover in reducing risk.

The outcome of individual IRMPs, in some cases, will be the re-distribution of fire and rescue resources, including possible relocation of stations and appliances, where this is determined by the assessment of risk to the community. All IRMPs are subject to public consultation.

The draft National Fire and Rescue Framework recognises the vital contribution of the retained section of the service and acknowledges the need to find solutions to these recruitment and retention challenges. That is why the Government announced on 15 December 2003 that there would be a review of issues affecting the retained section of the service. The review will examine the issues that contribute to these challenges, including equality and diversity, public awareness, engagement with the business community, deployment, community participation, role, reward and conditions of service. The recommendations of the review will be submitted to the Practitioners' Forum in the summer. [181866]