Clause 47 - False alarms of fire
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
3:15 pm
Mr Philip Hammond (Runnymede and Weybridge, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment No. 145, in
clause 47, page 23, line 27, after 'fire', insert
', road traffic accident or other emergency in respect of which the authority has a function under section 9'.
The clause headings are not part of the construction of the Bill, and the amendment seeks to widen the scope of the clause to include false alarms of road traffic accidents and other emergencies in respect of which fire and rescue authorities have functions under clause 9. That seems logical.
I hope that the Under-Secretary will be able to point to provisions in other statutes that relate to false alarms in emergencies other than fire—if he cannot, we shall be in trouble—because there must be provisions to deal with those who raise false alarms in any emergencies. Even if there are provisions in other legislation, however, my view is that if we are trying to create a level playing field in which the role of the fire and rescue service is broadened to include not only fire, but road traffic accidents and other emergency work, and if we are saying that all of that work is core to the fire and rescue service's activity, it would be logical to phrase the false alarm provisions to cover all those areas. Will he explain why false alarms made to a fire and rescue authority in relation to those other emergencies should not also be covered by the clause?