To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many firefighters have been trained in decontamination techniques to help the general public since 2002; how many protective suits are available in each fire authority area; what expenditure has been incurred on such (a) training and (b) suits in each year since 2002; and how much is planned for 2009-10.

A census conducted by the National Audit Office in 2008 estimated that 7,653 firefighters were trained in mass decontamination. The Department has also provided training materials to every FRS to ensure that all firefighters, some 50,000, have received awareness training regarding CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) incidents.

CLG's New Dimension project has also supplied two types of protective suits: Gas Tight Suits (GTS) and Powered Respirator Protective Suits (PRPS), the number and location of which are indicated in the following table:

Funding given to FRSs for mass decontamination training is outlined in the second following table:

The Department is unable to provide the overall cost specifically associated with the procurement of the GTS and PRPS but on average the cost of a GTS was around £560 per suit at the time of purchase in 2003-04 and the cost of PRPS, ordered from 2005-06 onwards, was approximately £880 per suit. Additionally, expenditure associated with the maintenance of the protective suits can not be separated out from other associated maintenance costs.