Written question asked by Lord Hammond of Runnymede (Conservative) on Friday, 25 June 2004, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Monday, 5 July 2004. It was answered by Nick Raynsford (Labour) on Monday, 5 July 2004 on behalf of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister.

Office of the Deputy Prime Minister

Question: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister, whether the implementation of the modernisation of working practices in the Fire Service will lead to the elimination of the provision of beds in fire stations.

Answer: Mr. Hammond: To ask the Deputy Prime Minister whether the implementation of the modernisation of working practices in the Fire Service will lead to the elimination of the provision of beds in fire stations. [181570] Mr. Raynsford: All Fire and Rescue Authorities are in the process of implementing their first year action plans according to Integrated Risk Management (IRM) principles and will start consulting on their year two plans shortly. IRM replaces the former centrally determined standards of fire cover that sometimes bore little or no relation to the current pattern of risk in a given area. Each authority has to consider the range of risks faced by the communities it serves and then allocate available resources to maximum benefit. As part of that process, authorities have been considering whether current working patterns adequately match the occurrence of incidents over the course of the day. The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister does not expect that there will be a "one size fits all" solution and it will be for each authority to determine what use to make of downtime during the night hours and what rest facilities are appropriate.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 181570; 423 c451-2W
Session: 2003-04
Subjects: Fire and rescue services Facilities Modernisation Working conditions Fire stations
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk