Clause 19 - Charging
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
3:45 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
It is not clear to me that that follows at all. I read clause 8(1) narrowly:
''rescuing people in the event of road traffic accidents . . . protecting people from serious harm . . . in the event of road traffic accidents in its area.''
It is not clear to me that the fire and rescue service has the primary responsibility for clearing the carriageway after an accident. I do not think that that is the case. Therefore, I suspect that when the fire and rescue authority undertakes clearance of the carriageway, it is undertaking a responsibility that belongs to the highway authority in that area. However, I stand to be corrected by the Minister.