Fire Services
Communities and Local Government
Julian Smith (Skipton and Ripon, Conservative)
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on the support available for employers of on-call retained firefighters.
Bob Neill (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Communities and Local Government; Bromley and Chislehurst, Conservative)
Ministers within the Department for Communities and Local Government regularly meet colleagues from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to discuss a range of matters.
Fire and rescue authorities are responsible for engagement with local employers. My Department has produced the Retained Duty System Employers' Information Toolkit to support fire and rescue authorities in engaging with local employers in raising awareness about the duty system, and encouraging their support to release staff to become retained duty firefighters. The Department has also produced the Recognition Scheme for Primary Employers of Retained Duty System (On-Call) Firefighters, to recognise employers who have agreed to make staff available for retained duty system service.