Written question asked by John McDonnell (Labour) on Thursday, 9 March 2006, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 13 March 2006. It was answered by Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 March 2006 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Fires

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of accidental dwelling fires started by cigarette lighters by children under the age of nine years.

Answer: Children and young people are particularly vulnerable to death and injury by fire and also cause fire accidentally. In our view the most important task is to educate the family, particularly the very young, about the potential dangers of playing with fire.We therefore produce fire safety material for use by fire and rescue services aimed specifically at educating both adults and children and young people. For adults, we convey the message, in written publicity material and in a range of television advertisements, of the need to keep lighters out of the reach of children. For children and young people, we produce storybooks and animated DVDs, targeted at 4–8 year olds which teach them of the dangers of playing with matches and lighters. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's Firekills”” website also provides key information for older children on a range of fire safety messages.We have also made available £11.4 million grant funding for fire and rescue authorities in England over the two year period to March 2008 to support fire prevention work, including community fire safety, arson reduction and work with children and young people.

Secondary information