Fire service modernisation plans unveiled

The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) today said that the Fire and Rescue Services Bill would "drive forward" the Government's modernisation agenda as set out in its recent White Paper.

The White Paper was the ODPM's response to the controversial fire service review, drafted by Sir George Bain, which gained notoriety through the bitter firefighters' pay dispute. The Bain report called for a new "preventative and risk-based" approach to reducing fires and saving lives.

At present the UK fire service largely operates under legislation introduced just after the Second World War.

The new Bill places a greater emphasis on prevention work by creating a new duty for fire and rescue authorities to promote fire safety. It also makes provision for other "core duties" of the service beyond firefighting, such as rescues from road traffic accidents, responding to serious environmental disasters such as flooding and the threat of terrorism.

Proper statutory footing

Fire and Rescue Service Minister Nick Raynsford said: "What we need is greater focus on preventing fires in the first place. The Bill will help shift the focus of the service towards a more preventative and risk-based approach through, in particular, the new duty to promote fire safety.

"And for the first time the wider role of the service, in dealing with road traffic accidents, responding to the greater threat posed by terrorism and environmental disasters such as serious flooding, will be put on a proper statutory footing."

Alan Doig, president of the Chief and Assistant Chief Fire Officers' Association (CACFOA), commented: "CACFOA welcomes the announcement and publication of the new Fire and Rescue Services Bill. The provision of a statutory duty to promote fire safety is particularly welcomed.

"Safety from fire is the first priority, but recognition in the Bill of the wider emergency response role of the Fire and Rescue Service is important in securing the social, economic and environmental well-being of the country."

Jane Willis, of the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) Policy Group, added: "The move towards a more integrated management of risk and the greater emphasis on fire prevention matters is consistent with HSE's holistic approach to risk control."

Integrated risk management

The Fire Brigades Union immediately condemned the Bill as window dressing to "cover-up cuts" planned for the fire service by the Government.

The FBU said it accepted that "some" of the Bill was "not controversial", adding that it "simply puts in legislation the work the fire and rescue service already does every day such as road traffic accidents, chemical spills, flood and river rescues.

However a spokesman added: "The real danger is in the proposals to downgrade the rescue role of the fire service and produce cuts across the service under the guise of local integrated risk management plans."

The FBU claimed that the plans aimed to reduce the speed of response of the fire service to 999 calls, reduce the number of firefighters being sent to such calls and to cut the amount of vital firefighting and rescue equipment being sent in emergencies.

The spokesman added: "These service cuts are not only in response to automatic fire alarms at empty industrial units but to inhabited premises such as multi-occupancy flats and retail and leisure centres."

The FBU is also concerned about the future level of response to Automatic Fire Alarms (AFAs), expressing its fears in a letter to the Office of The Deputy Prime Minister last week. The ODPM accused the union of "scaremongering".

Wrong end of the stick

FBU General Secretary Andy Gilchrist described a planned in increased investment in prevention measures of £5 million each year for three years as "pathetic" and said the Government must commit to a "major reduction in all fire deaths and injuries and reducing the number of all fires wherever they are and however they start."

He added: "There is only a commitment to reduce fire deaths in the home. There is no commitment to reduce arson deaths at all and no mention of reducing deaths and injuries outside the home."

Phil Hope, minister responsible for fire safety, insisted that the FBU had got the wrong end of the stick, adding that there remained some "ill will" and "bad morale following last years' dispute."

He commented: "The professionalism and bravery of our fire service cannot be doubted. They do have a very dangerous job but too many people are still losing their lives and too many people are being injured in fires. We want to bear down on that problem.

"Some of the best practice that we see around the country in terms of both stopping fires and preventing fires is what the Bill is all about. It's making sure the very best practice we have seen is replicated across the country."

Johnny Thomson