Fire services in the United Kingdom
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England and Wales, Northern Ireland, and Scotland.
Fire authorities have the power to raise a Council Tax levy for funding, with the remainder coming from the government.
Scotland and Northern Ireland have centralised fire services, and so their authorities are effectively committees of the devolved parliaments.
Fire services are established and granted their powers under fairly new legislation which has replaced a number of Acts of Parliament dating back more than 60 years, but is still undergoing change; a rough timeline can be seen below.
Its website outlines future changes, and specific projects: The aim of the Fire Modernisation Programme is to adopt modern work practices within the Fire & Rescue Service to become more efficient and effective, while strengthening the contingency and resilience of the Service to react to incidents.
[13]The committee's report, and the subsequent government response in September 2006,[14] are important as they outlined progress on the FiReControl, efforts to address diversity and the planned closure of HMFSI in 2007 among many issues.
For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office.
On 8 February 2010, the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project.
[15] Called to give evidence were Councillors Brian Coleman and James Pearson from the Local Government Association.
Historically, there had been about 1,600 local authority fire services under the responsibility of the Home Office in England and Wales until World War II.
Post-war legislation returned control to the Northern Ireland Government, the Home Office (for services in England and Wales) and the Secretary of State for Scotland.
This department was then broken up, creating the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) which took central government responsibility.
The next level beneath that of local authority, is a brigade which usually comes under the operational command of a high ranking senior officer.
Traditionally chief fire officers have risen through the ranks from firefighter, although under modernisation plans brigades can now operate graduate entry, and fast track promotion as is already the case with the armed forces and the police.
In February 2007, the government announced it was establishing a new unit to provide ministers and civil servants with "independent professional advice on fire and rescue issues".
Ranks and roles vary between services, but include:[49] Former ranks include: The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CSS),[51] which provides advice for individuals in case of a major disaster: "The (web)site provides easily understandable guidance for the general public on how to prepare themselves, their families and their homes and businesses to cope during an emergency or disaster."
Funding for the fire service comes from two principal sources: a central government grant, and a small levy on the local council tax.
[54] In 2002, Professor Sir George Bain was asked by the government to conduct a wide-ranging review of the fire service in the UK.
Bain's terms of reference were described in September 2002 as follows: "Having regard to the changing and developing role of the Fire Service in the United Kingdom, to inquire into and make recommendations on the future organisation and management of the Fire Service..."[55] Bain's report was unpopular with firefighters, and a long period of industrial action started in 2002 and continued until 2003 when a new pay and conditions package was put together.
Most statutory firefighting bodies consist of a fire authority and brigade, the former responsible for political and administrative aspects of service provision and the latter for delivering it.
Bain's review stated that the fire service should have specific responsibilities for: "Emergency preparedness coupled with the capacity and resilience to respond to major incidents of terrorism and other chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear threats".
In 2010, firefighters from across the UK and European Union held an urban search and rescue exercise near Portsmouth.
It provided FRSs with a wide range of equipment and vehicles to help deal with major challenges like floods and terrorist attacks.
FireLink is the new digital FRS wide area communications system in England, Scotland and Wales.
The FRS use wide area radios to communicate between vehicles and control rooms but there has never been a fully compatible system.
The issue was raised by Sir Desmond Fennell, who conducted the public inquiry into the King's Cross fire in 1987.
[57] Prof Bain's report highlighted many areas of proposed change that include working practices, shift hours and time spent on fire prevention duties.
These companies often combine fire and medical response under the banner of "Plant Protection" BMW and Jaguar Land Rover are two examples of factories with this provision.
A smaller number of companies offer complex event fire safety packages for large events or civil contingencies, including the provision of specialist off-road fire appliances, dedicated pump rescue ladders and other technical and specialist vehicles.
Their roles are to provide a niche response where the fire services have no legal obligation or the specialist vehicles required for the high risk category.
