Clause 9 - Emergencies
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
4:00 pm
Mr Nick Raynsford (Minister of State (Local and Regional Government), Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Greenwich and Woolwich, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman exaggerates the scenario. It is important that the fire and rescue service considers the contribution that it can make to a range of potential emergencies. We would not be doing our duty if we did not ensure that that very important service was not only helped and equipped to cope with emergencies, but encouraged to think creatively about the contribution that it can make. However, as a result of the publication of the Bill, we do not expect all fire and rescue services to be rushing out immediately to see whether they should be acquiring large quantities of new kit to do things that they have not previously done.
We expect the fire service to be thinking intelligently, thoughtfully and creatively about how the services that it offers can mesh with those provided by others to meet particular crises such as the one to which the hon. Gentleman alluded. That is a sensible way forward. However, I again remind him that the whole provision for mass decontamination and other new-dimension investment has been funded by the ODPM. We are committed not just to meeting the capital costs, but to providing ongoing funding of associated revenue costs.
We are obviously in dialogue with fire and rescue authorities on many other issues, and we touched on the procurement of the Firelink radio communication system. Once again it is the ODPM that is meeting the cost of providing that equipment to ensure that all fire and rescue authorities have interoperable equipment to the highest possible standard to ensure that they do their job to the best of their ability. We do not shirk from our responsibility to fund the fire and rescue service properly. I assure the hon. Member for
Teignbridge that if special needs and special provisions were not being adequately met we would want to consider whether there was a case for additional funding from Government.
Obviously, we expect fire and rescue authorities to contribute. After all, they are fire and rescue authorities in their own right, and not simply agents of government. It is, therefore, appropriate for them to make a contribution, but we have not been slow in meeting our responsibilities for additional investment to cope with emergencies. I hope that both the hon. Member for Teignbridge and the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge recognise that the clause is an important and new provision defining the hugely important role of the fire and rescue service in respect of emergencies.
Question put and agreed to.
Clause 9 ordered to stand part of the Bill.