Clause 43 - Powers of fire-fighters etc in an emergency etc
Fire and Rescue Services Bill
2:30 pm
Mr John Pugh (Education Spokesperson, Education & Skills; Southport, Liberal Democrat)
That is a perfectly valid point. In fact, before we were interrupted by the break, I was pondering why the amendment had not been incorporated into the Bill, given that the legislation puts the accent on preventing disasters rather than on simply reacting to them as and when they occur. I was speculating on why such powers had not been included.
The only explanation that I could come up with was that it might have been thought that the powers of the fire services would be made too wide. For example, although a fire service might have perfectly valid concerns that a chemical factory is in danger of going up in flames, there may be other issues about which it and the person who owns the chemical factory would not agree, and there could be litigation or complaint after the event.
Equally, we would not want the fire services to intrude in domestic bonfire incidents and to take it upon themselves to hose down people who are burning garden rubbish. I am sure that that is not the intention of the Bill, but given the common sense that, to some extent, is contained in the legislation, there is a concern as to how the power that the hon. Member for Runnymede and Weybridge and I wish to see incorporated in the Bill can best be phrased.
There is a view that an Englishman's home is his castle, and that he is entitled to mess around inside it, whatever the risk. None the less, most people do not live in castles. Many live in flats or accommodation that is near to other accommodation.