Fire Services
Communities and Local Government

Stewart Jackson (- Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Peterborough, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what assessment has been made of the effects on the number of fire (a) stations and (b) appliances at each location of the repeal of section 19 (4) of the Fire Services Act 1947, requiring a fire authority to obtain the prior consent of the Secretary of State for the closure of a fire station and reductions in the number of fire appliances.

Shahid Malik (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Communities and Local Government; Dewsbury, Labour)

The repeal of Section 19 of the Fire Services Act 1947 was an essential element of the move to integrated risk management planning (IRMP), under which local fire and rescue authorities (FRAs) and local communities are able to make appropriate decisions at the local level.

The numbers of fire (a) stations and (b) appliances are provided to the Department in annual data returns by Fire and Rescue Services in England. Figures since 2003-04 are collected and are shown in the following table.

No assessment has been made by this Department of the direct effects on the number of fire stations and fire appliances of the repeal of section 19(4) of the 1947 Act, although the Audit Commission takes account of individual FRAs' IRMP-under which decisions on the number and location of stations and appliances are made-in drawing up annual assessments as part of the comprehensive area assessment.