Clause 13 - Reinforcement schemes
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
4:45 pm
Mr Phil Hope (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Corby, Labour/Co-operative)
Clause 3 refers to ''participating in the scheme'' and
''any expenses incurred in taking measures to secure the efficient operation of the scheme''.
I think that the words ''efficient operation'' and ''participating in the scheme'' in the clause, plus the words that I have spoken this afternoon, must give the hon. Gentleman the assurance that he requires.
On amendment No. 67, the law already provides for the rare situation when a fire and rescue authority is sued and another authority or third party contributed to the loss caused. Under those circumstances, it is likely that any other fire and rescue authority involved would be included in the action. In any event, an authority that is sued would be entitled to recover a proportion of any damages awarded from any third party that shares responsibility. That is covered by general legal principles.