Clause 12 - Other services
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 65, in
clause 12, page 7, line 4, at end insert
'so long as such provision does not impair the authority's discharge of the functions conferred on it by sections 6, 7, 8 and 9'.
This is a simple amendment. The clause provides fire and rescue authorities with the power to provide the services of their employees and equipment for any purpose that they consider appropriate, inside or outside their area. It refers to commercial services that might be provided by the authority, such as pumping water, filling ponds and emptying swimming pools. It is useful to have those resources available for the benefit of the community, and we have no difficulty with the proposals because the services are being provided to individuals and the authority is acting no differently from any other service provider.
The amendment was tabled to emphasise that those services should never be provided at the expense of the core functions that are imposed on the fire authorities. We cannot have every appliance from the Wiltshire and Swindon fire authority pumping out the Greenwich swimming pool of the Minister of State when buildings all over Wiltshire are burning down.
I am sure that the Under-Secretary agrees with the sentiment of the amendment, and if he can assure us that the performance of the services under clause 12 must always be secondary to the statutory functions of the fire and rescue authority, it may not be necessary to pursue the amendment.