Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (UK)

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Directions as to reinforcement schemes gives the Secretary of State the power to direct the fire and rescue authorities involved to make, vary or revoke such a scheme. Before giving a direction, the Secretary of State will give all authorities concerned the opportunity to make representations to him and he may hold a public inquiry. Section 15 Arrangements with other employers of fire-fighters Part 3 – Administration (Sections 21 to 30): provides for the preparation of a Fire and Rescue National Framework setting out the strategic priorities of the Fire and Rescue Service, and for the supervision of fire and rescue authorities. It makes supplementary provision for the Secretary of State to provide equipment and training centres for fire and rescue authorities. The term “emergency” is defined, for the purposes of this Bill only, at Section 56. Other functions Section 10 Directions relating to particular fires and emergencies

Part 7 – General (Sections 54 to 62): makes general provision in relation to pre-commencement consultation, interpretation, statutory instruments, territorial extent etc. Subsection (5) makes it an offence for any person to use a fire hydrant other than for the purpose of fire-fighting or any other purpose of a fire and rescue authority; or other than for any purpose authorised by the water undertaker or other person to whom the hydrant belongs. Should any negotiating body be set up under these powers, subsections (4) and (5) would prevent the body being undermined by negotiations being held in another forum. Subsections (5), (6), (7), (8), however, would allow the statutory body to make arrangements for some conditions of service to be negotiated locally either in their entirety or within nationally agreed parameters. Section 32 GuidanceThe term ‘brigade’ does not appear in the Bill – this reflects a community service structured on the roles of individuals rather than adherence to a rank structure. Territorial Application The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c. 21), sometimes abbreviated as FRSA 2004, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The Act is not expected to have a significant impact on either public expenditure or manpower. Through the process of regional organisation and the introduction of Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs), it is expected that fire and rescue authorities will be given the flexibility to place greater emphasis on prevention and accrue expenditure savings as a result. IRMPs in particular should allow authorities to meet more effectively the particular service demands in their area. Whilst there may be a possibility that some fire and rescue services (typically smaller, rural authorities) could incur some short-term cost increases as a result of adopting the provisions in the Act (such as an enhanced role in promoting fire safety), such costs should be offset in the longer term by the efficiency savings that the Act will bring about. Fire fighting re-enacts the existing statutory duty for a fire and rescue authority to plan and provide arrangements for fighting fires and protecting life and property from fires within its area. A fire and rescue authority is required to secure sufficient equipment etc. and training to discharge its duty in normal circumstances. A fire and rescue authority must also put in place effective arrangements for receiving and responding to calls for help and for obtaining information to exercise its functions; the latter might include, for example, information about the nature and characteristics of buildings within the authority’s area or availability of and access to water supplies. Section 8 Road traffic accidents This section will give combined fire and rescue authorities the powers which are already available to county fire authorities, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and metropolitan county fire and civil defence authorities under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972. PART 2 FUNCTIONS OF FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITIES Core functions Section 6 Fire safety

Prior to the second world war the fire service was run by local government and the responsibility delegated in most cases to the police. During the second world war the fire service was nationalised (NFS) and it was agreed on cessation of hostilities that the fire brigades would be returned to local authorities. In 1947 the Fire Services Act became law, making the fire service a department in its own right and provided a legal framework how fire service should be setup and administrated. The core function was to extinguishing fires and very little was included about the other functions of the fire service. The fire safety role was defined in subsection 1(1)(f) which states the fire service should provide fire prevention advice on request and with regards to the special services roll, it stated that fire brigade equipment could be used for other than firefighting purposes. Clause 45 sets out the powers and the obligations of an employee of a fire and rescue authority who has entered a place under clause 44 to gain information or investigate the cause and progression of a fire. The powers and obligations are similar to those applicable to investigations under health and safety legislation. Section 46 Powers of entry: notices Part 6 – Supplementary (Sections 43 to 53 and Schedules 1 and 2): concerns the powers of fire and rescue authority employees to undertake rescue work and investigations, as well as a number of consequential provisions and repeals, including the abolition of the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council. An Act to make provision about fire and rescue authorities and their functions; to make provision about employment by, and powers of employees of, fire and rescue authorities; to make provision about education and training and pension schemes; to make provision about the supply of water; to make provision about false alarms of fire; to provide for the funding of advisory bodies; and for connected purposes. This provision provides authorised employees of a fire and rescue authority with the powers to deal with fires, road traffic accidents and other emergencies. It replaces section 30(1) of the Fire Services Act 1947 which was limited to dealing with extinguishing, or preventing the spread of, fires, and recognises the wider range of duties of fire-fighters, including the work which fire and rescue authorities do in responding to road traffic accidents. Powers of entry Section 44 Powers of entrySections 44(3) and (4) were repealed on 20 February 2007 [2] by section 6 of the Emergency Workers (Obstruction) Act 2006. This clause re-enacts section 16(1) to (3) of the Fire Services Act 1947 and requires any person who proposes to carry out any works for the purpose of supplying water to any part of the area of a fire and rescue authority to give at least six weeks’ written notice to the authority under subsection (1). A person proposing to carry out any works affecting a fire hydrant is required to give at least seven days’ notice in writing. Initially there were no problems as the secondary functions called for little resources. By 1970 the secondary functions were demanding more resources, especially fire safety. With the introduction of the Fire Precautions Act the staff in fire safety departments grew considerably. Fire safety officers were required to ensure that all premises met the required fire safety standards. This was achieved by conducting surveys of the premises, re-inspections and finally issuing a fire certificate, this proved to be expensive, because of the human resources needed.

Power to respond to other eventualities; and other services. replaces section 3(1)(e) of the Fire Services Act 1947, and will provide fire and rescue authorities with discretion to equip and respond to events beyond its core functions provided for elsewhere in the Bill. A fire and rescue authority will be free to act where it believes there is a risk to life or the environment. This would allow, for example, specialist activities such as rope rescue. A fire and rescue authority will be able to exercise the power in support of another fire and rescue authority – for example, under a reinforcement scheme (see Sections 13 and 14). Section 12 Other servicesThis Section requires the Secretary of State to consult on and prepare a Fire and Rescue National Framework (“the Framework”), to which fire and rescue authorities must have regard in carrying out their functions. The Secretary of State must keep the Framework under review and must consult on any significant revisions made to it. A draft Framework was published for consultation on 11th December 2003 setting out the Government’s objectives for the Fire and Rescue Service and what fire and rescue authorities should do to achieve these objectives. The Framework also sets out the support the Government will provide to fire and rescue authorities. Section 22 Intervention by Secretary of State

Provides for the means by which a notice under clause 44 may be legally served. It is similar to service provisions under fire safety and health and safety law and will allow legal service by electronic means where the recipient agrees to this. It corresponds to provisions in the Communications Act 2003. False alarms Section 47 False alarms of fire Section 32 would allow the Secretary of State to issue guidance to negotiating bodies. Any negotiating body, whether established voluntarily or under Section 31, would be required to have regard to the guidance. Pensions etc Section 33 Pensions etc It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in England and Wales. Replacing the previous Fire Services Act 1947 in England and Wales, it clarifies the duties and powers of fire authorities to:-

Part 2 – Functions of fire and rescue authorities (Sections 6 to 20): sets out the duties and powers of fire and rescue authorities. The Bill does not repeal the provisions of the Fire Services Act 1947 as they apply in Scotland, which will remain in force. The only exceptions to this are the pension provisions in Part 4 of the Bill and consequential provisions, which do extend to Scotland as pension policy is a reserved matter and not a devolved issue. The Bill, therefore, repeals the existing pension provisions in the 1947 Act, and in turn extends the replacement provisions, to England, Wales and Scotland.