Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede & Weybridge, Conservative)

As I recall, I had just sat down and was expecting to hear the Under-Secretary's words of wisdom in response. I have had to wait on tenterhooks for 12 days; I hope that the hon. Gentleman's words will be even wiser with the benefit of maturing over that time.

Mr Phil Hope (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Office of the Deputy Prime Minister; Corby, Labour/Co-operative)

The words have matured and even fermented over the last week or so.

The clause largely re-enacts the existing provisions of the Fire Services Act 1947 which require fire and rescue authorities to enter into reinforcement schemes with other authorities, and it extends those provisions to the new core duties under the Bill. That will allow the authorities to provide mutual assistance in discharging the new duties and to notify the Secretary of State when they have done so. It also allows authorities to apportion between them the costs incurred in participating in a reinforcement scheme.

Reinforcement schemes are already in place between adjacent fire and rescue authorities and are integral to the day-to-day operational effectiveness of the fire and rescue service. As such schemes are essentially administrative in nature, authorities will not have to revise all their existing schemes as a result of the Bill. Instead, those schemes will simply continue to have effect under the new provisions in the clause.

Including the new core duties in such schemes will make it much easier for fire and rescue authorities to participate in wider reinforcement schemes, including on a regional and national scale in the event of a major incident, as well as providing simple cross-boundary assistance between authorities in the event of a fire. That wider approach to reinforcement will ensure cover for an authority responding to an emergency outside its area.

The fire and rescue service is trying to set up a national reinforcement scheme for emergencies. However, the existing legislation does not provide a solid statutory base for such a scheme, creating concern among fire and rescue authorities that participation in such a scheme will conflict with their local duties. The clause will allay those concerns by providing them with the statutory base that they need. I commend the clause to the Committee.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 13 ordered to stand part of the Bill.