Clause 27 - Inspectors
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
9:45 am
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I am grateful to the Under-Secretary for that explanation. I take it that he is telling the Committee that some employees of the inspectorate are likely to become employees of the Audit Commission, thus shrinking the inspectorate. Can he give us some indication of the numbers involved in the inspectorate and the intended reduction in staffing of the residual inspectorate that will be lodged in, but not part of, the ODPM? Can the hon. Gentleman also tell us something about cost, because I am concerned about the cost implications of duplication of function. I do not imagine that the same number of people will simply transfer from the fire service inspectorate to the Audit Commission. To be honest, I am surprised that only 25 per cent. of the work load of the fire service inspectorate is made up of inspecting fire authorities. One might think that inspecting would be rather more than a quarter of an inspectorate's work load, but perhaps that is a rather old-fashioned view on my part. To set the matter in context, perhaps he could tell us the overall cost of the fire service inspectorate.
I do not want to draw parallels with the Minister of State's negotiations on council tax, which are going on in parallel with the Committee's deliberations, but I emphasise that we must consider the absolute values involved and not just percentages and changes. If the fire service inspectorate budget is small, the questions that I am asking are of less significance than if it is large.