Fire service in the United Kingdom
Encyclopedia
The fire services in the United Kingdom operate under separate legislative and administrative arrangements in England
, Northern Ireland
, Scotland
and Wales
. Fire services have undergone significant changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution
of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational procedures in the light of terrorism attacks and threats. The catalyst for change came with the 2002 publication of a review of the fire service in the United Kingdom by Professor Sir George Bain
. His report, the Independent Review of the Fire Service
, led to rapid changes to fire and rescue services. Bain's terms of reference were described 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..." In the foreword to the review, Bain stated that it was carried out independently and objectively: "...the Review was put together with the co-operation of the
Government, the employers' organisations and fire authorities in England and Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland."
. In general, emergency cover is provided by a fire and rescue service (FRS) - the term is used in legislation and by government departments. The FRS is directly governed and funded by a fire authority
. Many FRS were previously known as brigades, or county fire services, but legislative and administrative changes and alterations to boundaries has led to the almost universal incorporation of FRS into the name.
A FRS is usually the operational fire fighting
body, as distinct from the fire and rescue authority
which is the legislative, public and administrative body, made up of civilians and councillor
s, that runs the FRS. There are now many layers of governance
including central, devolved and local government; fire brigades, fire and rescue services; and other executive agencies, including Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI), HMFSI Scotland, and the Chief Fire Officers Association, all with a degree of operational, legislative or administrative involvement with the fire service in the UK. The role of Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
was created in 2007, its function will eventually replace that of the HMFSI. Prior to the introduction of devolved parliaments and assemblies in Great Britain, the fire service had been the responsibility of the respective Secretaries of State.
Legislation for the provision of firefighting in England and Wales dates back to 1865 when the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act was passed, taking the responsibility of firefighting away from insurance companies. However the legal requirement for local authority fire brigades came about with the passing of the Fire Brigades Act 1938
- at the time there were about 1,600 brigades throughout the UK.
During the Second World War the many local authority fire brigades had been merged to form a single National Fire Service
. After the war, in 1948, under the Fire Services Act 1947
, fire services were restored to local authority as before, but (in England and Wales) to the county councils and county boroughs rather than the smaller areas that had previously existed.
The number of fire brigades was subsequently reduced again by mergers in 1974/1975 and in 1986.
In Scotland the brigades from 1948-1975 covered generally groups of counties and were Angus, Central, Fife
, Glasgow, North Eastern, Perth and Kinross, South Eastern, South Western, and Western; the areas largely continuing the administrative arrangements of the war-time National Fire Service in Scotland.
In 2002, there was a series of national fire strikes
, with much of the discontent caused by the aforementioned report into the fire service conducted by Prof Sir George Bain. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service
was published with the industrial action still ongoing; it made radical proposals to how the fire service should be organised and managed. Bain's report ultimately led to a change in the laws relating to firefighting.
There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association
. 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.
"
select committee. In June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report.
Committee report
The committee's brief is described on its website:
The Communities and Local Government Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Communities and Local Government and its associated bodies.
Government response
This document, and the subsequent government response in September 2006, are important as they outlined progress on the FiReControl, efforts to address diversity and the planned closure of HMFSI in 2007 among many issues.
Both documents are interesting as they refer back to Professor Bain's report and the many recommendations it made and continue to put forward the notion that there is an ongoing need to modernise FRSs. For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office
.
Fire Control
On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian Coleman
and Cllr James Pearson
from the Local Government Association. Also giving evidence Matt Wrack
from the Fire Brigades Union
and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association. The second session heard evidence from Shahid Malik
MP Fire Minister, Sir Ken Knight
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
, Shona Dunn Director for Fire and Resilience Department for Communities and Local Government
, Robin Southwell CEO and Roger Diggle Project Director EADS
. The committee was chaired by Dr Phyllis Starkey
MP and attracted significant media attention.
, a Statutory Corporation
funded by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
.
(the relevant "Secretary of State" referred to in legislation applicable to Scotland).
under the responsibility of the Home Office
in England and Wales until World War II
. In 1941, the creation of the National Fire Service
brought all UK fire brigades under central government control. The National Fire Service was in turn under the auspices of the Civil Defence Service
. 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.
or HMFSI, its function was described thus:
"To achieve our vision by education and legislation, in an environment that encourages best practice, equality and diversity, health and safety and best value, and through inspection, to advance the development and continuous improvement of fire brigades."
Directly after the May 2001 general election, control of the fire service in England and Wales passed from the Home Office to the DTLR - or Department for Transport, Local Government and Regions. This department was then broken up creating the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) which took central government responsibility.
In May 2006, the ODPM was re-structured creating the Department for Communities and Local Government
or CLG, and it became the central government department for fire authorities in England. but would be advised by a new department under the direction of the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
- see below.
who reports to the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, who takes ultimate responsibility for fire and rescue, but that is part of a much wider brief.
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 Officer
s 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
. The London Fire Brigade announced details of its graduate scheme in 2007. Chief Fire Officers (CFO) 'speak' collectively via the Chief Fire Officers Association.
CFOs do attend some operational incidents. Hertfordshire
's CFO, Roy Wilsher, took command at the Buncefield oil depot fire in 2005, forming part of the gold command
team. If a CFO attends an incident, he will usually be the commanding officer of that incident.
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". It will be headed by a new role that will be known as the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
whose role it will be (among others) to work towards reducing the number of fire deaths in England and Wales, and implement changes to FRS required by the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
In May 2007, Sir Ken Knight
commissioner of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority was appointed as the first ever Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser. The appointee will assume the historical function of Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate.
existed, matters concerning fire fighting fell within the remit of the Scottish Office (later the Scottish Executive, now the Scottish Government).
In Scotland Her Majesty's Fire Inspectorate Inspectorate for Scotland (commonly known by the shortened and nationally-unqualified form "HMFSI") exists to inspect all fire Services in Scotland to ascertain how they are discharging their functions under relevant legislation http://www.grampianfrs.org.uk/subdreamer/index.php?categoryid=64. It functions as an autonomous body under the charge of the Justice Ministry of the Scottish Government
is responsible for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat
(CSS), 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."
Any such emergency or disaster is likely to involve a UK FRS, and the generic term for such contingency plans has become known as resilience The 'Preparing for emergencies website' gives specific government advice on fire safety, specific examples include the summer fire safety campaign, and schools' fire safety guide which are just two examples.
Funding for the fire service comes from two principal sources: a central government grant, and a small levy on the local council tax
. This levy is called a precept.
was asked by the government to conduct a wide ranging review of the fire service in the UK. His report, the Independent Review of the Fire Service
, led to rapid changes to fire and rescue services, and was the basis of what eventually became the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
. 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..."
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.
One of the areas identified by Bain as being in need of modernisation was FRS approach to fire prevention and community fire safety. There is now more emphasis on fire prevention
and providing public information coupled with encouraging businesses and individuals to take responsibility for providing a risk assessment of businesses — which became law in October 2006. Additionally, changes to central government, local government, and geographical boundaries have had an impact on the fire service in the UK.
The fire service in England consists of local authority brigades or FRSs, which come under the administrative control of metropolitan and shire, or county fire authorities (e.g. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
).
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. For example Oxfordshire County Council
is responsible for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
. The armed forces, private fire brigades and airports all make their own firefighting provision.
Another area identified in Bain's report was the FRS' capacity to respond to major incidents. 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 England and Wales, three projects are being rolled out that will help the FRS deal with incidents like these. The projects come under the umbrella of the Fire Resilience programme. The programme will provide the FRS with a far greater resilience and control to handle all types of incident.
New Dimension was the first Fire Resilience project to be implemented. It provided FRSs with a wide range of equipment and vehicles to help deal with major challenges like floods and terrorist attacks.
. The fire service's ability to communicate efficiently, across different brigades and with other emergency services has never been easy. The issue was raised by Sir Desmond Fennell, who conducted the public inquiry
into the King's Cross fire
in 1987. Fennell recommended when his report was published in 1988 that fireground communications be addresseed as an issue of "high importance".
At present, each of England's 45 (the number FRS was reduced from 46 in April 2007 with the merger of Devon and Somerset FRSs) FRSs handles its own calls from either the 999
system or mobile phone
companies. Additionally, calls are accepted from the other emergency services by dedicated landlines. The FiReControl project is building nine new purpose-built Regional Control Centres (RCCs). The aim is to rationalise call handling and aim for greater communication between the emergency services.
At present, 999 calls - whether by mobile telephone or landline - are answered by a BT
operator, who feeds the call to fire, police or ambulance, or another emergency service as required. Staff, known as control operators or control officers, also despatch the fire appliances
, maintain radio communications and provide detailed risk and geographical information. These operators are employed by an FRS, they wear a similar uniform to firefighters, and have a their own rank structure. The role of specialist fire officers and control operators overlaps where they work jointly in control or command centres, but the subject of mobilising, command and control will change as the FiReControl project advances.
Historically fire safety was a function of local authorities rather than the fire service however in 1947 the introduction of the Fire Services Act gave the Fire Brigades their first responsibilities for fire safety. The Fire Precautions Act 1971, the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 gave more powers to the service.
Today, the modernisation of the UK fire service has taken into account the role that it plays in fire safety issues and that issue is high on the agenda of most fire and rescue services. Many brigades started to produce Integrated Management Plans (IMP) to take in to account these new responsibilities and produced plans for not only fire safety in the workplace but also in the community. Now all fire and rescue services have community based fire safety departments.
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 now lays out in Section 6 what the fire service must do. It states that a fire and rescue authority must make provision for the purpose of promoting fire safety in its area and this must include the provision of information, publicity and encouragement in respect of the steps to be taken to prevent fires and death or injury by fire not only by the enforcement of specific fire safety legislation, but also by a proactive strategy targeted at all sections of the community.
.
Wales saw a reduction in the number of fire brigades in 1996, from 8 (the number of former administrative counties) to 3, made up of groups of the new principal areas.
, its website describes the principle objective of an airport fire and rescue service: "as to save lives in the event of an aircraft accident or incident". The number and type of firefighting appliances based at an airport will be determined by the airport's category. Airports in the UK are categorised from 1 to 10. A category 10 airport, caters for the biggest aircraft, the standards are determined by the Civil Aviation Authority
.
operates its own fire and rescue organisation. Originally this consisted of a civilian fire service known as the "Defence Fire Service" and the RAF Firefighting and Rescue Service. They were known collectively as the Ministry of Defence Fire Services, but in 2004 were formed into the Defence Fire and Rescue Service
. This also includes private contractors brought in to protect sites such as small defence establishments.
The DFRS is the largest non geographical or local authority FRS in the UK and the training, rank structure and equipment used are similar to that operated by their local authority fire service counterparts.
As a general rule the RAF Fire Service covers runways or airfields with particular expertise in defusing aircraft munitions.
The civilian Defence Fire Service covered domestic sites, but there were cross overs and both services could be called to airfield and domestic situations.
Both RAF and defence personnel can serve abroad both in peace time and at war.
Both the Royal Navy and British Army operate their own appliances and services at their respective bases and operating areas. Royal Marines facilities are serviced by the Royal Navy.
.
, are protected by their own fire services in the interests of protecting sites of heritage and royal importance. The Royal Household Fire Service is responsible for firefighting at Royal properties.
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
. Fire services have undergone significant changes since the beginning of the 21st century, a process that has been propelled by a devolution
Devolution
Devolution is the statutory granting of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level. Devolution can be mainly financial, e.g. giving areas a budget which was formerly administered by central government...
of central government powers, new legislation and a change to operational procedures in the light of terrorism attacks and threats. The catalyst for change came with the 2002 publication of a review of the fire service in the United Kingdom by Professor Sir George Bain
George Bain (academic)
Sir George Sayers Bain, a Canadian by birth born in Winnipeg and attended Miles MacDonell Collegiate, was President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2004.- Biography :...
. His report, the Independent Review of the Fire Service
Independent Review of the Fire Service
The Independent Review of the Fire Service, sometimes referred to as the Bain Report or IRFS was a wide-ranging report carried out by Professor Sir George Bain, in 2002, at the request of the government, into the how Fire and Rescue Services were operated and managed; and about the working...
, led to rapid changes to fire and rescue services. Bain's terms of reference were described 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..." In the foreword to the review, Bain stated that it was carried out independently and objectively: "...the Review was put together with the co-operation of the
Government, the employers' organisations and fire authorities in England and Wales, Scotland
and Northern Ireland."
Overview
Fire services in England, Scotland and Wales are not formed nationally, though a single service exists for Northern IrelandNorthern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for Northern Ireland. The NIFRS is overseen by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board, which in turn is subordinate to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety...
. In general, emergency cover is provided by a fire and rescue service (FRS) - the term is used in legislation and by government departments. The FRS is directly governed and funded by a fire authority
Fire Authority
In England and Wales a fire authority or fire and rescue authority is a statutory body made up of a committee of local councillors which oversees the policy and service delivery of a fire and rescue service...
. Many FRS were previously known as brigades, or county fire services, but legislative and administrative changes and alterations to boundaries has led to the almost universal incorporation of FRS into the name.
A FRS is usually the operational fire fighting
Fire fighting
Firefighting is the act of extinguishing fires. A firefighter fights fires to prevent loss of life, and/or destruction of property and the environment...
body, as distinct from the fire and rescue authority
Fire Authority
In England and Wales a fire authority or fire and rescue authority is a statutory body made up of a committee of local councillors which oversees the policy and service delivery of a fire and rescue service...
which is the legislative, public and administrative body, made up of civilians and councillor
Councillor
A councillor or councilor is a member of a local government council, such as a city council.Often in the United States, the title is councilman or councilwoman.-United Kingdom:...
s, that runs the FRS. There are now many layers of governance
Governance
Governance is the act of governing. It relates to decisions that define expectations, grant power, or verify performance. It consists of either a separate process or part of management or leadership processes...
including central, devolved and local government; fire brigades, fire and rescue services; and other executive agencies, including Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate (HMFSI), HMFSI Scotland, and the Chief Fire Officers Association, all with a degree of operational, legislative or administrative involvement with the fire service in the UK. The role of Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
was created in 2007, its function will eventually replace that of the HMFSI. Prior to the introduction of devolved parliaments and assemblies in Great Britain, the fire service had been the responsibility of the respective Secretaries of State.
History
- See separate article: Historical Fire Brigades of the United Kingdom
Legislation for the provision of firefighting in England and Wales dates back to 1865 when the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act was passed, taking the responsibility of firefighting away from insurance companies. However the legal requirement for local authority fire brigades came about with the passing of the Fire Brigades Act 1938
Fire Brigades Act 1938
The Fire Brigades Act 1938 was the primary legislation for Great Britain, excluding London, that placed responsibility for the provision of a fire brigade onto the local authority, and away from the insurance companies....
- at the time there were about 1,600 brigades throughout the UK.
During the Second World War the many local authority fire brigades had been merged to form a single National Fire Service
National Fire Service
The National Fire Service was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service was created in 1942....
. After the war, in 1948, under the Fire Services Act 1947
Fire Services Act 1947
-General Arrangement of the Act:-Scotland:The FRSA 2004 extended only to England and Wales, thus leaving the FSA 1947 in force in Scotland. Most of the 1947 Act was later repealed by the FSA 2005, which left ss...
, fire services were restored to local authority as before, but (in England and Wales) to the county councils and county boroughs rather than the smaller areas that had previously existed.
The number of fire brigades was subsequently reduced again by mergers in 1974/1975 and in 1986.
In Scotland the brigades from 1948-1975 covered generally groups of counties and were Angus, Central, Fife
Fife Fire and Rescue Service
Fife Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Fife, Scotland.-History:Fife Fire and Rescue Service was formed in 1985 from Fife Fire Brigade, however its creation was a result of the Fire Services Act 1947. The service operates as a whole and is not divided...
, Glasgow, North Eastern, Perth and Kinross, South Eastern, South Western, and Western; the areas largely continuing the administrative arrangements of the war-time National Fire Service in Scotland.
Legislative framework
- See separate article History of fire safety legislation in the United KingdomHistory of fire safety legislation in the United KingdomThe history of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom formally covers the period from the formation of the united kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, but is founded in the history of such legislation in England and Wales and Scotland prior to the Union....
- Comprehensive list of recent UK fire and rescue service legislation: http://www.statutelaw.gov.uk/SearchResults.aspx?TYPE=QS&Title=Fire&Year=&Number=&LegType=All+Legislation
Legislation (United Kingdom, Great Britain or England and Wales)
Local authority 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.- 1938: Fire Brigades Act 1938Fire Brigades Act 1938The Fire Brigades Act 1938 was the primary legislation for Great Britain, excluding London, that placed responsibility for the provision of a fire brigade onto the local authority, and away from the insurance companies....
. This Act (which is no longer in force) provided for centralised co-ordination of fire brigades in Great Britain and made it mandatory for local authorities to arrange an effective fire service.
- 1959: Fire Services Act 1947Fire Services Act 1947-General Arrangement of the Act:-Scotland:The FRSA 2004 extended only to England and Wales, thus leaving the FSA 1947 in force in Scotland. Most of the 1947 Act was later repealed by the FSA 2005, which left ss...
(amended 1959), this was replaced in England and Wales by the 2004 legislation
- 1999: Greater London Authority Act 1999Greater London Authority Act 1999The Greater London Authority Act 1999 is the Act of Parliament that established the Greater London Authority, the London Assembly and the Mayor of London....
This act was necessary to allow for the formation of the Greater London AuthorityGreater London AuthorityThe Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...
and in turn the London Fire and Emergency Planning AuthorityLondon Fire and Emergency Planning AuthorityThe London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is a functional body of the Greater London Authority and was established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose is to run the London Fire Brigade....
.
In 2002, there was a series of national fire strikes
UK Firefighter dispute 2002/2003
The 2002-2003 UK firefighter dispute began when the UK firefighters union, the Fire Brigades Union , voted to take strike action in an attempt to secure a better salary...
, with much of the discontent caused by the aforementioned report into the fire service conducted by Prof Sir George Bain. In December 2002, the Independent Review of the Fire Service
Independent Review of the Fire Service
The Independent Review of the Fire Service, sometimes referred to as the Bain Report or IRFS was a wide-ranging report carried out by Professor Sir George Bain, in 2002, at the request of the government, into the how Fire and Rescue Services were operated and managed; and about the working...
was published with the industrial action still ongoing; it made radical proposals to how the fire service should be organised and managed. Bain's report ultimately led to a change in the laws relating to firefighting.
- 2002: Independent Review of the Fire Service published
- 2004: Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in England and Wales...
, generally only applying to England and Wales.
- 2006: The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005The Regulatory Reform Order 2005 is a statutory instrument which places the onus on individuals within an organisation to carry out risk assessments to identify, manage and reduce the risk of fire....
This piece of secondary legislation or statutory instrumentStatutory InstrumentA Statutory Instrument is the principal form in which delegated or secondary legislation is made in Great Britain.Statutory Instruments are governed by the Statutory Instruments Act 1946. They replaced Statutory Rules and Orders, made under the Rules Publication Act 1893, in 1948.Most delegated...
replaces several other acts that dealt with fire precautions and fire safety in premises, including the now defunct process of issuing fire certificates. It came into force on 1 October 2006. The DfCLG has published a set of guides for non-domestic premises:http://www.communities.gov.uk/index.asp?id=1162101
- 2006: The Government of Wales Act 2006Government of Wales Act 2006The Government of Wales Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reforms the National Assembly for Wales and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily...
gave the National Assembly for WalesNational Assembly for WalesThe National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
powers to pass laws on "Fire and rescue services. [and] Promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation." but does not prevent future legislation being passed by the UK government which applies to two or more constituent countries.
There are further plans to modernise the fire service according to the Local Government Association
Local Government Association
The Local Government Association is a voluntary lobbying organisation acting as the voice of the local government sector in England and Wales, which seeks to be an authoritative and effective advocate on its behalf....
. 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.
"
Select Committee
The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of CommonsBritish House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
select committee. In June 2006, the fire and rescue service select committee, under the auspices of the Communities and Local Government Committee, published its latest report.
Committee report
The committee's brief is described on its website:
The Communities and Local Government Committee is appointed by the House of Commons to examine the expenditure, administration, and policy of the Department for Communities and Local Government and its associated bodies.
Government response
This document, and the subsequent government response in September 2006, are important as they outlined progress on the FiReControl, efforts to address diversity and the planned closure of HMFSI in 2007 among many issues.
Both documents are interesting as they refer back to Professor Bain's report and the many recommendations it made and continue to put forward the notion that there is an ongoing need to modernise FRSs. For example, where FRSs were historically inspected by HMFSI, much of this work is now carried out by the National Audit Office
National Audit Office (United Kingdom)
The National Audit Office is an independent Parliamentary body in the United Kingdom which is responsible for auditing central government departments, government agencies and non-departmental public bodies...
.
Fire Control
On 8 February 2010 the House of Commons Communities and Local Government Select Committee heard evidence on the Fire Control project. Called to give evidence were Cllr Brian Coleman
Brian Coleman
Brian Coleman FRSA is a Conservative Party politician and member of the London Assembly for Barnet and Camden, England. He is a Councillor in the London Borough of Barnet, and was Mayor for 2009-2010....
and Cllr James Pearson
James Pearson
James Pearson VC was an Irish recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces....
from the Local Government Association. Also giving evidence Matt Wrack
Matt Wrack
Matt Wrack is a British firefighter and trade unionist. He was elected General Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union in May 2005.Matt Wrack was born Matthew D Wrack in Manchester on 23 May 1962...
from the Fire Brigades Union
Fire Brigades Union
The Fire Brigades Union is a trade union in the United Kingdom for wholetime Firefighters , Retained Duty System and Emergency Control Room staff...
and John Bonney Chief Fire Officers Association. The second session heard evidence from Shahid Malik
Shahid Malik
Shahid Rafique Malik is a British Labour Party politician who became the Member of Parliament for Dewsbury in 2005 after defeating Conservative Sayeeda Warsi, now Conservative Chair Baroness Warsi and remained so till 2010 when Conservative candidate Simon Reevell won Dewsbury...
MP Fire Minister, Sir Ken Knight
Ken Knight
Sir Ken Knight, CBE, QFSM, DL, MIFireE is the current HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services and Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser in England & Wales.The position of "Chief Fire & Rescue Adviser" is a new government role created in 2007....
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
, Shona Dunn Director for Fire and Resilience Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...
, Robin Southwell CEO and Roger Diggle Project Director EADS
EADS
The European Aeronautic Defence and Space Company N.V. is a global pan-European aerospace and defence corporation and a leading defence and military contractor worldwide...
. The committee was chaired by Dr Phyllis Starkey
Phyllis Starkey
Phyllis Margaret Starkey is a British Labour party politician, who was the Member of Parliament for Milton Keynes South West from 1997 to 2010. She had previously served as Leader of Oxford City Council....
MP and attracted significant media attention.
Legislation and administration (England)
Consequential to the Government of Wales Act 2006 future legislation might be passed which can affect England only.Legislation and administration (Northern Ireland)
Fire and rescue services in Northern Ireland are provided by a single entity, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue ServiceNorthern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service
The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for Northern Ireland. The NIFRS is overseen by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board, which in turn is subordinate to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety...
, a Statutory Corporation
Statutory Corporation
A statutory corporation or public body is a corporation created by statute. While artificial legal personality is almost always the result of statutory intervention, a statutory corporation does not include corporations owned by shareholders whose legal personality derives from being registered...
funded by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety
The Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety is a devolved Northern Ireland government department in the Northern Ireland Executive...
.
- 1950: When the National Fire ServiceNational Fire ServiceThe National Fire Service was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service was created in 1942....
Northern Ireland was disbanded, three fire authorities took control of firefighting but were unified as the Northern Ireland Fire Authority in 1950. The Fire Services (Amendment) Act (Northern Ireland) 1950 became primary legislation in the same year.
- 2006: Fire and Rescue Services (Northern Ireland) Order 2006 S.I. No. 1254 (N.I.9)
Legislation and administration (Scotland)
Fire services in Scotland are the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government. Previously the responsibility lay with the Secretary of State for ScotlandSecretary of State for Scotland
The Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
(the relevant "Secretary of State" referred to in legislation applicable to Scotland).
- 1824: Establishment of municipal fire service in EdinburghEdinburghEdinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, the first public fire brigade in the UK - 1885: Creation of Scottish OfficeScottish OfficeThe Scottish Office was a department of the United Kingdom Government from 1885 until 1999, exercising a wide range of government functions in relation to Scotland under the control of the Secretary of State for Scotland...
transferring administrative (but not legislative) responsibility to Secretary of State for ScotlandSecretary of State for ScotlandThe Secretary of State for Scotland is the principal minister of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom with responsibilities for Scotland. He heads the Scotland Office , a government department based in London and Edinburgh. The post was created soon after the Union of the Crowns, but was...
. - 1938: Fire Services Act 1938 combined the functions of 185 fire brigades and imposed fire-fighting duties upon local authorities,
- 1941: Fire brigades transferred to National Fire ServiceNational Fire ServiceThe National Fire Service was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service was created in 1942....
(NFS) to form No.11 Region]. - 1947: Fire Services Act 1947Fire Services Act 1947-General Arrangement of the Act:-Scotland:The FRSA 2004 extended only to England and Wales, thus leaving the FSA 1947 in force in Scotland. Most of the 1947 Act was later repealed by the FSA 2005, which left ss...
returned fire brigades in Scotland to local authority control, mostly via joint boards. 11 brigades were created resembling somewhat the NFS areas. Section 36 of the Act dealt with its application to Scotland. Parts of the Act remain in force in Scotland. - 1959: Parts of the UK Fire Services Act 1959Fire Services Act 1959The Fire Services Act 1959 is an Act of the United Kingdom Parliament passed "to amend the Fire Services Act 1947, and make further provision as to the pensions of persons transferring to or from the fire service and as to members of fire brigades becoming temporary instructors in training...
remain in force in Scotland. - 1996: Creation of additional joint boards consequent to local government re-organisation.
- 1999: Responsibility transfers from Secretary of State for Scotland to the Scottish ExecutiveScottish ExecutiveThe Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
- 2002: Consultation Paper: "The Scottish Fire Service of the Future"
- 2003: Consultation Paper: "The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service: legislative proposals".
- 2004: introduction of Fire (Scotland) Bill consequent to 2003 consultation paper.
- 2005: Fire (Scotland) Act 2005Fire (Scotland) Act 2005The Fire Act 2005 is an Act of the Scottish Parliament made to "make provision about fire and rescue authorities and joint fire and rescue boards; to restate and amend the law in relation to fire services; to make provision in relation to the functions of such authorities and boards in connection...
The scope of this act includes a "fire safety regime for non-domestic premises", but it also includes legislation that allows for the provision and operation of fire and rescue services for the eight local authority and joint board FRS in Scotland.
Legislation and administration (Wales)
- 2006 : The Government of Wales Act 2006Government of Wales Act 2006The Government of Wales Act 2006 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reforms the National Assembly for Wales and allows further powers to be granted to it more easily...
gave the National Assembly for WalesNational Assembly for WalesThe National Assembly for Wales is a devolved assembly with power to make legislation in Wales. The Assembly comprises 60 members, who are known as Assembly Members, or AMs...
powers to pass laws on "Fire and rescue services. [and] Promotion of fire safety otherwise than by prohibition or regulation.".
Central government
Historically, there had been about 1600 local authority fire servicesFire Services
Fire Services is a Hong Kong football team. The majority of the players are working for the Fire Services Department in Hong Kong and playing for the club on an amateur basis.-Honours:* Hong Kong Viceroy Cup** Runners-up : 1969–70...
under the responsibility of the Home Office
Home Office
The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
in England and Wales until World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. In 1941, the creation of the National Fire Service
National Fire Service
The National Fire Service was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service was created in 1942....
brought all UK fire brigades under central government control. The National Fire Service was in turn under the auspices of the Civil Defence Service
Civil Defence Service
The Civil Defence Service was a civilian volunteer organisation established in Great Britain by the Home Office in 1935. In 1941, during World War II, the use of Civil Defence replaced the pre-existing Air Raid Precautions...
. 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.
England
The fire service has always been the ultimate responsibility of a government department, historically assisted by an executive agency called Her Majesty's Fire Service InspectorateChief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
or HMFSI, its function was described thus:
"To achieve our vision by education and legislation, in an environment that encourages best practice, equality and diversity, health and safety and best value, and through inspection, to advance the development and continuous improvement of fire brigades."
Directly after the May 2001 general election, control of the fire service in England and Wales passed from the Home Office to the DTLR - or Department for Transport, Local Government and Regions. This department was then broken up creating the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister (ODPM) which took central government responsibility.
In May 2006, the ODPM was re-structured creating the Department for Communities and Local Government
Department for Communities and Local Government
The Department for Communities and Local Government is the UK Government department for communities and local government in England. It was established in May 2006 and is the successor to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, established in 2001...
or CLG, and it became the central government department for fire authorities in England. but would be advised by a new department under the direction of the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
- see below.
Fire service ministers
The fire service minister is the most senior politician whose brief directly includes fire and rescue issues in England and Wales, other parts of the UK never having had the matter specifically under the control of a UK minister in peacetime. The fire service minister is not part of the prime minister's cabinet. The post is held by a junior minister, or Parliamentary Under-Secretary of StateParliamentary Under-Secretary of State
A Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State is the lowest of three tiers of government minister in the government of the United Kingdom, junior to both a Minister of State and a Secretary of State....
who reports to the secretary of state for Communities and Local Government, who takes ultimate responsibility for fire and rescue, but that is part of a much wider brief.
- Hazel BlearsHazel BlearsHazel Anne Blears is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Salford and Eccles since 2010 and was previously the MP for Salford since 1997...
: Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and Minister for Women - Parmjit DhandaParmjit DhandaParmjit Singh Dhanda is a British Labour Party politician who was the Member of Parliament for Gloucester from 2001 to 2010, succeeding Tess Kingham as the Labour MP for the seat...
: Appointed in 2007 as Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Fire and Resilience at CLG
Previous ministers
- Angela SmithAngela Evans SmithAngela Evans Smith, Baroness Smith of Basildon is a British Labour Co-operative politician who was the Member of Parliament for Basildon from 1997 till she was defeated in 2010...
: A former spokeswoman for Essex Fire and Rescue
- Jim FitzpatrickJim Fitzpatrick (politician)James Fitzpatrick is a British Labour Party politician, who has been the Member of Parliament for Poplar and Limehouse since the 2010 General Election. From 1997 to the 2010 election he was the member for Poplar and Canning Town...
, himself a former firefighter in the London Fire Brigade and FBUFBUFBU is an abbreviation for:* The Fire Brigades Union.* The former Oslo Airport, Fornebu.* Funen Football Association...
representative - Nick RaynsfordNick RaynsfordWyvill Richard Nicolls Raynsford , known as Nick Raynsford, is a British Labour Party politician. A government minister from 1997 to 2005, he has been the Member of Parliament for Greenwich & Woolwich since 1997, having previously been MP for Greenwich from 1992 to 1997, and for Fulham from 1986...
the minister in charge when legislative control shifted from the Home OfficeHome OfficeThe Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...
to the Office of Deputy Prime Minister. Mr Raynsford was also the minister during the 2002/3 national strikes
Regional government
Below national level, there are regional and local bodies whose role it is to establish a fire authority, implement the legislation from the tier above, while working alongside the relevant HMFSI and other interested bodies.- Greater London AuthorityGreater London AuthorityThe Greater London Authority is the top-tier administrative body for Greater London, England. It consists of a directly elected executive Mayor of London, currently Boris Johnson, and an elected 25-member London Assembly with scrutiny powers...
- London Fire and Emergency Planning AuthorityLondon Fire and Emergency Planning AuthorityThe London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is a functional body of the Greater London Authority and was established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose is to run the London Fire Brigade....
(under direct control of Greater London Authority) - Metropolitan and county fire and rescue services or brigades - see below
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 Officer
Chief Fire Officer
A Chief Fire Officer or CFO is the highest ranking Officer in the UK Fire & Rescue Service. There are currently 59 Chief Fire Officers serving in the United Kingdom in charge of County Fire Services....
s 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
Armed forces
The armed forces of a country are its government-sponsored defense, fighting forces, and organizations. They exist to further the foreign and domestic policies of their governing body, and to defend that body and the nation it represents from external aggressors. In some countries paramilitary...
and the police
Police
The police is a personification of the state designated to put in practice the enforced law, protect property and reduce civil disorder in civilian matters. Their powers include the legitimized use of force...
. The London Fire Brigade announced details of its graduate scheme in 2007. Chief Fire Officers (CFO) 'speak' collectively via the Chief Fire Officers Association.
- Fire authority: local councillors elected to set policy on its fire and rescue services, and distribute funding, and approve major spending
- Local authority: Chief executive - overall powers for all an authority's functions, including fire, rescue and resilience
- Brigade: Chief Fire Officer (CFO), Brigade Manager, or (in Greater London) Commissioner - overall operational, strategic and command of a brigade or fire and rescue service
CFOs do attend some operational incidents. Hertfordshire
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is administered by a Fire Authority which is an internal part of Hertfordshire County Council...
's CFO, Roy Wilsher, took command at the Buncefield oil depot fire in 2005, forming part of the gold command
Gold Silver Bronze command structure
A gold–silver–bronze command structure is used by emergency services of the United Kingdom to establish a hierarchical framework for the command and control of major incidents and disasters...
team. If a CFO attends an incident, he will usually be the commanding officer of that incident.
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
- See separate article Chief Fire and Rescue AdviserChief Fire and Rescue AdviserHer Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
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". It will be headed by a new role that will be known as the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser
Her Majesty's Chief Inspector of Fire Services for England and Wales, is responsible for the inspection and auditing of all Local Authority Fire Services in England and Wales to ensure they meet strict performance criteria and targets laid out by the Government ....
whose role it will be (among others) to work towards reducing the number of fire deaths in England and Wales, and implement changes to FRS required by the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in England and Wales...
In May 2007, Sir Ken Knight
Ken Knight
Sir Ken Knight, CBE, QFSM, DL, MIFireE is the current HM Chief Inspector of Fire Services and Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser in England & Wales.The position of "Chief Fire & Rescue Adviser" is a new government role created in 2007....
commissioner of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority was appointed as the first ever Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser. The appointee will assume the historical function of Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate.
Scotland
Except for the period when the National Fire ServiceNational Fire Service
The National Fire Service was the single fire service created in Great Britain in 1941 during the Second World War; a separate National Fire Service was created in 1942....
existed, matters concerning fire fighting fell within the remit of the Scottish Office (later the Scottish Executive, now the Scottish Government).
- Scottish ExecutiveScottish ExecutiveThe Scottish Government is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was established in 1999 as the Scottish Executive, from the extant Scottish Office, and the term Scottish Executive remains its legal name under the Scotland Act 1998...
, top tier for Scotland
In Scotland Her Majesty's Fire Inspectorate Inspectorate for Scotland (commonly known by the shortened and nationally-unqualified form "HMFSI") exists to inspect all fire Services in Scotland to ascertain how they are discharging their functions under relevant legislation http://www.grampianfrs.org.uk/subdreamer/index.php?categoryid=64. It functions as an autonomous body under the charge of the Justice Ministry of the Scottish Government
Northern Ireland
Except for the period when the National Fire Service existed, matters concerning fire fighting fell within the remit of the government of Northern Ireland.- Northern Ireland AssemblyNorthern Ireland AssemblyThe Northern Ireland Assembly is the devolved legislature of Northern Ireland. It has power to legislate in a wide range of areas that are not explicitly reserved to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and to appoint the Northern Ireland Executive...
, top tier for Northern Ireland, by default, one fire service,
Wales
- Welsh Assembly Responsibility for fire and rescue services and promotion of (but not legislative control of) fire safety in Wales. now lies with the Welsh Assembly Government.
FRS or brigade-level
Brigades are further sub-divided according to local practice as follows:- Command: Large brigades, such as the London Fire BrigadeLondon Fire BrigadeThe London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire...
, are divided into commands - Area: A brigade or FRS can also be divided into areas, for example London used to consist of five geographical areas: northwest, north, northeast, southwest and southeast
- Divisional: A smaller geographical area, again it can be decided locally; again London until 1986 consisted of eleven divisions
- Borough: Brigades are now aligned with local councils, and because of London's size, its three commands also overlap with the London boroughs, so each bourough is a small division. It now has borough teams, and a separate list of stations shows which borough it belongs to.
Resilience
The Cabinet OfficeCabinet Office
The Cabinet Office is a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for supporting the Prime Minister and Cabinet of the United Kingdom....
is responsible for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat
Civil Contingencies Secretariat
The Civil Contingencies Secretariat, created in July 2001, is the department of the British Cabinet Office responsible for emergency planning in the UK. The role of the secretariat is to ensure the United Kingdom’s resilience against disruptive challenge, and to do this by working with others to...
(CSS), 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."
Any such emergency or disaster is likely to involve a UK FRS, and the generic term for such contingency plans has become known as resilience The 'Preparing for emergencies website' gives specific government advice on fire safety, specific examples include the summer fire safety campaign, and schools' fire safety guide which are just two examples.
Fire service funding
In the UK, an FRS generally provides its services for free, although there are some special services that can be charged for, and some additional services that can be paid for. The service is free to the end user in the case of an emergency.Funding for the fire service comes from two principal sources: a central government grant, and a small levy on the local council tax
Council tax
Council Tax is the system of local taxation used in England, Scotland and Wales to part fund the services provided by local government in each country. It was introduced in 1993 by the Local Government Finance Act 1992, as a successor to the unpopular Community Charge...
. This levy is called a precept.
The need for modernisation
In 2002, Professor Sir George BainGeorge Bain (academic)
Sir George Sayers Bain, a Canadian by birth born in Winnipeg and attended Miles MacDonell Collegiate, was President and Vice-Chancellor of Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1998 to 2004.- Biography :...
was asked by the government to conduct a wide ranging review of the fire service in the UK. His report, the Independent Review of the Fire Service
Independent Review of the Fire Service
The Independent Review of the Fire Service, sometimes referred to as the Bain Report or IRFS was a wide-ranging report carried out by Professor Sir George Bain, in 2002, at the request of the government, into the how Fire and Rescue Services were operated and managed; and about the working...
, led to rapid changes to fire and rescue services, and was the basis of what eventually became the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in England and Wales...
. 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..."
Bain's report was unpopular with firefighters, and a long period of industrial action
UK Firefighter dispute 2002/2003
The 2002-2003 UK firefighter dispute began when the UK firefighters union, the Fire Brigades Union , voted to take strike action in an attempt to secure a better salary...
started in 2002 and continued until 2003 when a new pay and conditions package was put together.
One of the areas identified by Bain as being in need of modernisation was FRS approach to fire prevention and community fire safety. There is now more emphasis on fire prevention
Fire prevention
Fire Prevention is a function of many fire departments. The goal of fire prevention is to educate the public to take precautions to prevent fires, and be educated about surviving them. It is a proactive method of reducing emergencies and the damage caused by them. Many fire departments have a Fire...
and providing public information coupled with encouraging businesses and individuals to take responsibility for providing a risk assessment of businesses — which became law in October 2006. Additionally, changes to central government, local government, and geographical boundaries have had an impact on the fire service in the UK.
The fire service in England consists of local authority brigades or FRSs, which come under the administrative control of metropolitan and shire, or county fire authorities (e.g. Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service
Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of almost 400,000 hectares and a population of over 1.7 million people.The service attends an...
).
Most statutory
Statute
A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs a state, city, or county. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. The word is often used to distinguish law made by legislative bodies from case law, decided by courts, and regulations...
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. For example Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council
Oxfordshire County Council, established in 1889, is the county council, or upper-tier local authority, for the non-metropolitan county of Oxfordshire, in the South East of England, an elected body responsible for the most strategic local government services in the county.-History:County Councils...
is responsible for Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service
The Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, is the Fire Service serving the county of Oxfordshire.It has 24 fire stations across the county. These are located in: Oxford , Didcot, Abingdon, Wallingford, Faringdon, Wantage, Goring, Henley-on-Thames, Thame, Wheatley, Watlington, Banbury, Hook Norton,...
. The armed forces, private fire brigades and airports all make their own firefighting provision.
Another area identified in Bain's report was the FRS' capacity to respond to major incidents. 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 England and Wales, three projects are being rolled out that will help the FRS deal with incidents like these. The projects come under the umbrella of the Fire Resilience programme. The programme will provide the FRS with a far greater resilience and control to handle all types of incident.
New Dimension
FireLink
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. FireLink is more efficient and provides greater resilience for command and controlGold Silver Bronze command structure
A gold–silver–bronze command structure is used by emergency services of the United Kingdom to establish a hierarchical framework for the command and control of major incidents and disasters...
. The fire service's ability to communicate efficiently, across different brigades and with other emergency services has never been easy. The issue was raised by Sir Desmond Fennell, who conducted the public inquiry
Public inquiry
A Tribunal of Inquiry is an official review of events or actions ordered by a government body in Common Law countries such as the United Kingdom, Ireland or Canada. Such a public inquiry differs from a Royal Commission in that a public inquiry accepts evidence and conducts its hearings in a more...
into the King's Cross fire
King's Cross fire
The King's Cross St. Pancras tube station fire was a fatal fire on the London Underground. It broke out at approximately 19:30 on 18 November 1987, and killed 31 people....
in 1987. Fennell recommended when his report was published in 1988 that fireground communications be addresseed as an issue of "high importance".
FiReControl
Prof Bain's report highlighted many areas of proposed change that include working practices, shift hours and time spent on fire prevention duties. One of the proposals which is now well under way is the reduction of fire service control rooms.At present, each of England's 45 (the number FRS was reduced from 46 in April 2007 with the merger of Devon and Somerset FRSs) FRSs handles its own calls from either the 999
999 (emergency telephone number)
999 is an official emergency telephone number in a number of countries which allows the caller to contact emergency services for urgent assistance....
system or mobile phone
Mobile phone
A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator...
companies. Additionally, calls are accepted from the other emergency services by dedicated landlines. The FiReControl project is building nine new purpose-built Regional Control Centres (RCCs). The aim is to rationalise call handling and aim for greater communication between the emergency services.
At present, 999 calls - whether by mobile telephone or landline - are answered by a BT
BT Group
BT Group plc is a global telecommunications services company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is one of the largest telecommunications services companies in the world and has operations in more than 170 countries. Through its BT Global Services division it is a major supplier of...
operator, who feeds the call to fire, police or ambulance, or another emergency service as required. Staff, known as control operators or control officers, also despatch the fire appliances
Fire apparatus
A fire apparatus, fire engine, fire truck, or fire appliance is a vehicle designed to assist in fighting fires by transporting firefighters to the scene and providing them with access to the fire, along with water or other equipment...
, maintain radio communications and provide detailed risk and geographical information. These operators are employed by an FRS, they wear a similar uniform to firefighters, and have a their own rank structure. The role of specialist fire officers and control operators overlaps where they work jointly in control or command centres, but the subject of mobilising, command and control will change as the FiReControl project advances.
Fire safety
- See separate article History of fire safety legislation in the United KingdomHistory of fire safety legislation in the United KingdomThe history of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom formally covers the period from the formation of the united kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, but is founded in the history of such legislation in England and Wales and Scotland prior to the Union....
Historically fire safety was a function of local authorities rather than the fire service however in 1947 the introduction of the Fire Services Act gave the Fire Brigades their first responsibilities for fire safety. The Fire Precautions Act 1971, the Fire Precautions (Workplace) Regulations 1997 and the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 gave more powers to the service.
Today, the modernisation of the UK fire service has taken into account the role that it plays in fire safety issues and that issue is high on the agenda of most fire and rescue services. Many brigades started to produce Integrated Management Plans (IMP) to take in to account these new responsibilities and produced plans for not only fire safety in the workplace but also in the community. Now all fire and rescue services have community based fire safety departments.
The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 now lays out in Section 6 what the fire service must do. It states that a fire and rescue authority must make provision for the purpose of promoting fire safety in its area and this must include the provision of information, publicity and encouragement in respect of the steps to be taken to prevent fires and death or injury by fire not only by the enforcement of specific fire safety legislation, but also by a proactive strategy targeted at all sections of the community.
England
| Avon Fire and Rescue Service Avon Fire and Rescue Service Avon Fire & Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the unitary authorities of Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol, North Somerset, and South Gloucestershire in South West England.-History:... http://www.avonfire.gov.uk/avon |
| Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Bedfordshire and the unitary authority of Luton.The Service was formed on 1 April 1997, following the creation of a separate unitary authority of Luton.... http://www.bedsfire.com/index.htm |
| Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service The Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service is a statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of the ceremonial county of Berkshire in England... http://www.rbfrs.co.uk/ |
| Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Buckinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, is the Local Authority Fire Service serving the ceremonial county of Buckinghamshire. It comprises the four districts of Buckinghamshire – Aylesbury Vale, Chiltern, South Bucks and Wycombe – and the unitary authority of Milton Keynes.Some 550 firefighters... http://www.bucksfire.gov.uk/bucksfire/default.htm |
| Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the non-metropolitan county of Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority of Peterborough.... http://www.cambsfire.gov.uk/ |
| Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statuory fire and rescue service for the English county of Cheshire, consisting of the unitary authorities of Cheshire East, Cheshire West and Chester, Halton and Warrington. It has 24 fire stations... http://www.cheshirefire.co.uk/ |
| Cleveland Fire Brigade Cleveland Fire Brigade Cleveland Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the boroughs of Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar and Cleveland & Stockton-on-Tees in the North East of England. The name originates from the former county of Cleveland which was abolished in 1996... http://www.clevelandfire.gov.uk/home |
| Cornwall Fire and Rescue Service http://www.cornwall.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=374 |
| County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering an area of , for the unitary authority areas of County Durham and Darlington... http://www.ddfra.co.uk/ |
| Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service Cumbria Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Cumbria, England. Of the 38 fire stations, there are six wholetime and 32 retained... http://www.cumbriafire.gov.uk/ |
| Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Derbyshire, England.-History:The Fire Services Act 1947 created two brigades for Derbyshire - the County Borough of Derby Fire Brigade and the Derbyshire Fire Service. In 1974, local government... http://www.derbyshire-fire-service.co.uk/ |
| Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the counties of Devon and Somerset, including the unitary authorities of Plymouth and Torbay, in South West England... http://www.devfire.gov.uk/http://www.somerset.gov.uk/somerset/fire/home.asp (new FRS created by merger in 2007) |
| Dorset Fire and Rescue Service Dorset Fire and Rescue Service Dorset Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory Fire and Rescue Service for the area of Dorset, South West England. The Service Headquarters were located in Colliton Park, Dorchester, but as of October 2008 moved to a new purpose built location in Poundbury.... http://www.dorsetfire.co.uk/main.asp |
| East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service http://www.esfrs.org/ |
| Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Essex County Fire and Rescue Service Essex County Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Essex in the east of England, and is one of the largest fire services in the country, covering an area of almost 400,000 hectares and a population of over 1.7 million people.The service attends an... http://www.essex-fire.gov.uk/ |
| Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service The Gloucestershire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the county of Gloucestershire, England. The service is run by Gloucestershire County Council.... http://www.glosfire.gov.uk/ |
| Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of Greater Manchester, England.Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service covers an area of approximately... http://www.manchesterfire.gov.uk/ |
| Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hampshire, on the south coast of England. The service's chief fire officer is John Bonney.-History:... http://www.hantsfire.gov.uk/ |
| Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service The Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Herefordshire and Worcestershire in the West Midlands region of England.... http://www.hwfire.org.uk/ |
| Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is administered by a Fire Authority which is an internal part of Hertfordshire County Council... http://www.hertsdirect.org/yrccouncil/hcc/fire/ |
| Humberside Fire and Rescue Service Humberside Fire and Rescue Service Humberside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of what was the county of Humberside , but now consists of the unitary authorities of East Riding of Yorkshire, Kingston upon Hull, North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire in northern England.-Fire... http://www.humbersidefire.gov.uk/ |
| Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service The Isles of Scilly Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the Isles of Scilly off the coast of the South West of England. It is the smallest fire and rescue service in the United Kingdom and the only to be staffed entirely by retained firefighters.-Fire... http://www.scilly.gov.uk/services/list.htm?mode=8&pk_services=86 |
| Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the Isle of Wight off the south coast of England.In March 2007, the Isle of Wight Council voted to maintain the independence of the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue service, instead of a merger with the Hampshire... http://www.iwfire.org/ |
| Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service The Lancashire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the Shire county of Lancashire, England.... http://www.lancsfirerescue.org.uk/lfrs/home/default.php |
| Kent Fire and Rescue Service Kent Fire and Rescue Service Kent Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the county of Kent covering a geographical area south of London, to the coast and including major shipping routes via the Thames and Medway rivers. The total coastline covered is ; it has 67 fire stations, and 4 district fire... http://www.kent.fire-uk.org/index.php?pageid=1 |
| Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service Leicestershire and Rutland Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service which covers Leicestershire and Rutland including the unitary authority of Leicester.-History:... http://www.leicestershire-fire.gov.uk/ |
| Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue Service Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the county of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands Region of the UK. This does not include North Lincolnshire and North East Lincolnshire, which are in the Yorkshire and the Humber Region.-Personnel:The service employs... http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/section.asp?catId=2424 |
| London Fire Brigade London Fire Brigade The London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire... http://www.pfe.gov.uk/index.htm LFEPA London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is a functional body of the Greater London Authority and was established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose is to run the London Fire Brigade.... |
| Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the county of Merseyside in north-west England and is the statutory firefighting and rescue service responsible for all 999 fire brigade calls in Sefton, Knowsley, St. Helens, Liverpool and Wirral.-History:The fire... http://www.merseyfire.gov.uk/ |
| Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service -The Headquarters:The Headquarters of Norfolk Fire and Rescue Service is in the village of Hethersett which is south-west of Norwich. The full address is Whitegates, Hethersett, NR9 3DN. Whitegates was commandeered for use by the National Fire Service during the Second World War and was eventually... http://www.norfolkfireservice.gov.uk/ |
| Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service The Northamptonshire Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the county of Northamptonshire in the English East Midlands.-History:... http://www.northamptonshire.gov.uk/safety/fire/fire_home.htm |
| Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service Northumberland Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service which covers the area of Northumberland, England.Fire stations are located in:*Allendale*Alnwick*Amble*Belford*Bellingham*Berwick upon Tweed*Haltwhistle*Haydon Bridge... http://www.northumberlandfire.org.uk/ |
| North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the seven districts of administrative county of North Yorkshire: Craven, Harrogate, Hambleton, Richmondshire, Ryedale, Scarborough, Selby; as well as the unitary authority of City of York... http://www.northyorksfire.gov.uk/home/index.html |
| Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Nottinghamshire in the East Midlands of England.... http://www.notts-fire.gov.uk/internet/NottsFR/NottinghamshireFireAndRescue.nsf/HomeFrame?OpenFrameSet |
| Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service The Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service, is the Fire Service serving the county of Oxfordshire.It has 24 fire stations across the county. These are located in: Oxford , Didcot, Abingdon, Wallingford, Faringdon, Wantage, Goring, Henley-on-Thames, Thame, Wheatley, Watlington, Banbury, Hook Norton,... http://www.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/portal/publicsite/councilservices?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=http://apps.oxfordshire.gov.uk/wps/wcm/connect/Internet/Council+Services/Fire+and+public+safety/Fire+and+rescue+service/ |
| Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service The Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Shropshire, including Telford and Wrekin, in the West Midlands region of England.... http://www.shropshirefire.gov.uk/ |
| South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of South Yorkshire, England. The service is split into four districts covering the areas of Barnsley, Doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield-Stations:... http://www.syfire.gov.uk/ |
| Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the county of Staffordshire and unitary area of Stoke on Trent.... http://www.staffordshirefire.gov.uk/ccm/portal/ |
| Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service covering Suffolk in East Anglia, England. It was formed in 1948 as the Suffolk & Ipswich Fire Service, before changing after the 1974 Local Government Review to 'Suffolk Fire Service'... http://www.suffolk.gov.uk/PolicingAndPublicSafety/FireAndRescueServices/ |
| Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Surrey Fire and Rescue Service The Surrey Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the County of Surrey, England, with 24 fire stations. It comes under the administrative and legislative control of Surrey County Council, who fund the service by collecting a precept via council tax, and from central... http://www.surreycc.gov.uk/sccwebsite/sccwspages.nsf/LookupWebPagesByTITLE_RTF/Surrey+Fire+and+Rescue+Service?opendocument |
| Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, formerly Tyne and Wear Metropolitan Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service covering the area of Tyne and Wear, England, providing emergency fire cover to a population of 1.08 million people and a geographical area of 540 square kilometres... http://www.twfire.co.uk/welcome |
| Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service serving the county of Warwickshire in the West Midlands region of England.... http://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fireandrescue |
| West Midlands Fire Service West Midlands Fire Service West Midlands Fire Service is the statutory fire and rescue service responsible for fire protection, prevention, intervention and emergency rescue in the county of the West Midlands in England.... http://www.wmfs.net/wmfs/home.xtml?bhcp=1 |
| West Sussex Fire and Rescue Service http://www.westsussex.gov.uk/ccm/navigation/emergency-services/west-sussex-fire-&-rescue-service/ |
| West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service The West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the metropolitan county of West Yorkshire, England... http://www.westyorksfire.gov.uk/ |
| Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service is the county-wide, statutory emergency fire and rescue service for the ceremonial county of Wiltshire, England. It is administered by a joint authority of 13 members, 9 appointed by Wiltshire Council and 4 by Swindon Borough Council, called the Wiltshire and Swindon... http://www.wiltshirefirebrigade.com/ |
- See also: Fire Gateway clickable map of fire and rescue services in England http://www.fire.gov.uk/Find+my+region.htm
Northern Ireland
| Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service The Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for Northern Ireland. The NIFRS is overseen by the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service Board, which in turn is subordinate to the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety... http://www.nifrs.org/ |
Scotland
The Scottish brigades are still broadly based on the system of local government regions in use from 1975 to 1996. With two exceptions fire authorities are now joint boards responsible for groups of Council AreasCouncil Area
A Council Area is one of the areas defined in Schedule 1 of the Local Government etc. Act 1994 and is under the control of one of the local authorities in Scotland created by that Act.-Legislation :1889...
.
| Brigade | Council Areas (if different from brigade name) |
|---|---|
| Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Central Scotland, Scotland.-History:Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service was formed in 1975 when control of fire services was passed from local authorities to the new Central Region Council... |
Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire Clackmannanshire, often abbreviated to Clacks is a local government council area in Scotland, and a lieutenancy area, bordering Perth and Kinross, Stirling and Fife.As Scotland's smallest historic county, it is often nicknamed 'The Wee County'.... , Falkirk Falkirk (council area) Falkirk is one of the 32 unitary authority council areas in Scotland. It borders onto North Lanarkshire to the south west, Stirling to the north west, West Lothian to the south east and, across the Firth of Forth to the north east, Fife and Clackmannanshire... , Stirling Stirling (council area) Stirling is one of the 32 unitary local government council areas of Scotland, and has a population of about 87,000 . It was created under the Local Government etc Act 1994 with the boundaries of the Stirling district of the former Central local government region, and it covers most of the former... |
| Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue sercvice for the area of Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland.-Statistics:... |
|
| Fife Fire and Rescue Service Fife Fire and Rescue Service Fife Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Fife, Scotland.-History:Fife Fire and Rescue Service was formed in 1985 from Fife Fire Brigade, however its creation was a result of the Fire Services Act 1947. The service operates as a whole and is not divided... |
|
| Grampian Fire and Rescue Service Grampian Fire and Rescue Service Grampian Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Grampian, Scotland. The service provides emergency cover for residential areas, as well as providing it for a local Industrial harbour, oil and gas terminals and a commonly used heliport.-FRS area:Grampian... |
Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray Moray Moray is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It lies in the north-east of the country, with coastline on the Moray Firth, and borders the council areas of Aberdeenshire and Highland.- History :... |
| Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service The Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for northern Scotland, covering the council areas of Highland, Orkney, Shetland, and the Western Isles, and so covering a major part of the Highlands and Islands area... |
Highland Highland (council area) Highland is a council area in the Scottish Highlands and is the largest local government area in both Scotland and the United Kingdom as a whole. It shares borders with the council areas of Moray, Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross, and Argyll and Bute. Their councils, and those of Angus and... , Orkney, Shetland, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) |
| Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service is a Local Authority fire and rescue service covering an area of of south east Scotland, and serving a total population of 890,000.... |
East Lothian East Lothian East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh.... , Edinburgh, Midlothian Midlothian Midlothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy area. It borders the Scottish Borders, East Lothian and the City of Edinburgh council areas.... , Scottish Borders, West Lothian West Lothian West Lothian is one of the 32 unitary council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Falkirk, North Lanarkshire, the Scottish Borders and South Lanarkshire.... |
| Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Strathclyde Fire and Rescue is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Strathclyde, Scotland. It is the largest fire and rescue service in Scotland, and one of the largest in Europe... |
Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute Argyll and Bute is both one of 32 unitary council areas; and a Lieutenancy area in Scotland. The administrative centre for the council area is located in Lochgilphead.Argyll and Bute covers the second largest administrative area of any Scottish council... , East Ayrshire East Ayrshire East Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders on to North Ayrshire, East Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, South Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway... , East Dunbartonshire East Dunbartonshire This article is about the East Dunbartonshire council area of Scotland. See also East Dunbartonshire .East Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland. It borders onto the north-west of the City of Glasgow. It contains many of the suburbs of Glasgow as well as containing many of... , East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire East Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland. Until 1975 it formed part of the county of Renfrewshire for local government purposes along with the modern council areas of Renfrewshire and Inverclyde... , Glasgow, Inverclyde Inverclyde Inverclyde is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Together with the Renfrewshire and East Renfrewshire council areas, Inverclyde forms part of the historic county of Renfrewshire - which current exists as a registration county and lieutenancy area - located in the west... , North Ayrshire North Ayrshire North Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland with a population of roughly 136,000 people. It is located in the south-west region of Scotland, and borders the areas of Inverclyde to the north, Renfrewshire to the north-east and East Ayrshire and South Ayrshire to the East and South... , North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire North Lanarkshire is one of 32 council areas in Scotland. It borders onto the northeast of the City of Glasgow and contains much of Glasgow's suburbs and commuter towns and villages. It also borders Stirling, Falkirk, East Dunbartonshire, West Lothian and South Lanarkshire... , Renfrewshire Renfrewshire Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east... , South Ayrshire South Ayrshire South Ayrshire is one of 32 council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of Ayrshire. It borders onto East Ayrshire, North Ayrshire and Dumfries and Galloway.... , South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire South Lanarkshire is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland, covering the southern part of the former county of Lanarkshire. It borders the south-east of the city of Glasgow and contains many of Glasgow's suburbs, commuter towns and smaller villages.... , West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire West Dunbartonshire is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland. Bordering onto the west of the City of Glasgow, containing many of Glasgow's commuter towns and villages as well as the city's suburbs, West Dunbartonshire also borders onto Argyll and Bute, Stirling, East... |
| Tayside Fire and Rescue Service Tayside Fire and Rescue Service Tayside Fire and Rescue Service is the statutory fire and rescue service for the area of Tayside and covering a geographical area of 7,500 square kilometres. The FRS has a total of 50 fire appliances based at a total of 24 fire stations. The service currently recruits 721 operational Firefighters... |
Angus Angus Angus is one of the 32 local government council areas of Scotland, a registration county and a lieutenancy area. The council area borders Aberdeenshire, Perth and Kinross and Dundee City... , Dundee, Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross Perth and Kinross is one of 32 council areas in Scotland, and a Lieutenancy Area. It borders onto the Aberdeenshire, Angus, Dundee City, Fife, Clackmannanshire, Stirling, Argyll and Bute and Highland council areas. Perth is the administrative centre... |
- See also Fire Master for more information about chief fire officers in Scotland
Wales
| Brigade | Principal areas covered |
|---|---|
| Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service The Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the Welsh principal areas of Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys and Swansea.... |
Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire is a unitary authority in the south west of Wales and one of thirteen historic counties. It is the 3rd largest in Wales. Its three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford... , Ceredigion Ceredigion Ceredigion is a county and former kingdom in mid-west Wales. As Cardiganshire , it was created in 1282, and was reconstituted as a county under that name in 1996, reverting to Ceredigion a day later... , Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot Neath Port Talbot is a county borough and one of the unitary authority areas of Wales. Neath Port Talbot is the 8th most populous county in Wales and the third most populous county borough.... , Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire Pembrokeshire is a county in the south west of Wales. It borders Carmarthenshire to the east and Ceredigion to the north east. The county town is Haverfordwest where Pembrokeshire County Council is headquartered.... , Powys Powys Powys is a local-government county and preserved county in Wales.-Geography:Powys covers the historic counties of Montgomeryshire and Radnorshire, most of Brecknockshire , and a small part of Denbighshire — an area of 5,179 km², making it the largest county in Wales by land area.It is... Swansea Swansea Swansea is a coastal city and county in Wales. Swansea is in the historic county boundaries of Glamorgan. Situated on the sandy South West Wales coast, the county area includes the Gower Peninsula and the Lliw uplands... |
| North Wales Fire and Rescue Service North Wales Fire and Rescue Service The North Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the predominantly rural principal areas of Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd and Wrexham in the north of Wales.... |
Anglesey Anglesey Anglesey , also known by its Welsh name Ynys Môn , is an island and, as Isle of Anglesey, a county off the north west coast of Wales... , Conwy Conwy (county borough) Conwy County Borough is a unitary authority area in North Wales.-Geography:It contains the major settlements of Llandudno, Llandudno Junction, Llanrwst, Betws-y-Coed, Conwy, Colwyn Bay, Abergele, Penmaenmawr and Llanfairfechan, and has a total population of about 110,000.The River Conwy, after... , Denbighshire Denbighshire Denbighshire is a county in north-east Wales. It is named after the historic county of Denbighshire, but has substantially different borders. Denbighshire has the distinction of being the oldest inhabited part of Wales. Pontnewydd Palaeolithic site has remains of Neanderthals from 225,000 years... , Flintshire Flintshire Flintshire is a county in north-east Wales. It borders Denbighshire, Wrexham and the English county of Cheshire. It is named after the historic county of Flintshire, which had notably different borders... , Gwynedd Gwynedd Gwynedd is a county in north-west Wales, named after the old Kingdom of Gwynedd. Although the second biggest in terms of geographical area, it is also one of the most sparsely populated... , Wrexham Wrexham (county borough) Wrexham is a county borough centred on the town of Wrexham in north-east Wales. The county borough has a population of 130,200 inhabitants. Just under half of the population live either within the town of Wrexham or its surrounding conurbation of urban villages. The remainder living to the south... |
| South Wales Fire and Rescue Service South Wales Fire and Rescue Service The South Wales Fire and Rescue Service is the fire and rescue service covering the ten Welsh principal areas of Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Torfaen and Vale of Glamorgan.... |
Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent Blaenau Gwent is a county borough in South Wales, sharing its name with a parliamentary constituency. It borders the unitary authority areas of Monmouthshire and Torfaen to the east, Caerphilly to the west and Powys to the north. Its main towns are Abertillery, Brynmawr, Ebbw Vale and... , Bridgend Bridgend (county borough) Bridgend is a county borough in the historic county of Glamorgan, south Wales. The county borough has a total population of 130,000 people, and contains the settlements of Bridgend, after which it is named, Maesteg, and the seaside town of Porthcawl... , Caerphilly Caerphilly (county borough) Caerphilly is a county borough in southern Wales, straddling the ancient county boundary between Glamorgan and Monmouthshire.Its main town is Caerphilly, and also the largest... , Cardiff Cardiff Cardiff is the capital, largest city and most populous county of Wales and the 10th largest city in the United Kingdom. The city is Wales' chief commercial centre, the base for most national cultural and sporting institutions, the Welsh national media, and the seat of the National Assembly for... , Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil is a town in Wales, with a population of about 30,000. Although once the largest town in Wales, it is now ranked as the 15th largest urban area in Wales. It also gives its name to a county borough, which has a population of around 55,000. It is located in the historic county of... , Monmouthshire Monmouthshire Monmouthshire is a county in south east Wales. The name derives from the historic county of Monmouthshire which covered a much larger area. The largest town is Abergavenny. There are many castles in Monmouthshire .-Historic county:... , Newport Newport Newport is a city and unitary authority area in Wales. Standing on the banks of the River Usk, it is located about east of Cardiff and is the largest urban area within the historic county boundaries of Monmouthshire and the preserved county of Gwent... , Rhondda Cynon Taff Rhondda Cynon Taff Rhondda Cynon Taf, or RCT, is a county borough in the South Wales Valleys of Wales. It consists of 3 valleys: the Rhondda Valley, Cynon Valley and Taff-Ely Valley... , Torfaen Torfaen Torfaen is a county borough in Wales within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire. It was originally formed in 1974 as a district of the county of Gwent and in 1996 it was reconstituted as a unitary authority.-Education:... , Vale of Glamorgan Vale of Glamorgan The Vale of Glamorgan is a county borough in Wales; an exceptionally rich agricultural area, it lies in the southern part of Glamorgan, South Wales... . |
Wales saw a reduction in the number of fire brigades in 1996, from 8 (the number of former administrative counties) to 3, made up of groups of the new principal areas.
Crown Dependencies
The Crown Dependencies have their own fire and rescue services:- Jersey Fire and Rescue Service
- Guernsey Fire and Rescue Service
- Isle of Man Fire and Rescue ServiceIsle of Man Fire and Rescue ServiceThe Isle of Man Fire and Rescue Service operates seven fire stations across the Isle of Man.The service operates under the Department of Home Affairs.-Fire stations:...
Other UK fire and rescue services
There are several specialised and private FRSs in the United Kingdom.BAA Fire Service
Airport fire services in the UK protect all categories of airports and aerodromes. They are usually referred to as Rescue and Firefighting Services. One of the biggest aviation fire services is operated by BAA. Non BAA airports operate their own fire services to comply with legislation which states that airports must be provided with RFFS. One such example is London City AirportLondon City Airport
London City Airport is a single-runway airport. It principally serves the financial district of London and is located on a former Docklands site, east of the City of London, opposite the London Regatta Centre, in the London Borough of Newham in east London. It was developed by the engineering...
, its website describes the principle objective of an airport fire and rescue service: "as to save lives in the event of an aircraft accident or incident". The number and type of firefighting appliances based at an airport will be determined by the airport's category. Airports in the UK are categorised from 1 to 10. A category 10 airport, caters for the biggest aircraft, the standards are determined by the Civil Aviation Authority
United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority
The Civil Aviation Authority is the public corporation which oversees and regulates all aspects of aviation in the United Kingdom. The CAA head office is located in the CAA House on Kingsway in Holborn, London Borough of Camden...
.
Defence Fire and Rescue Service
The MoDMinistry of Defence (United Kingdom)
The Ministry of Defence is the United Kingdom government department responsible for implementation of government defence policy and is the headquarters of the British Armed Forces....
operates its own fire and rescue organisation. Originally this consisted of a civilian fire service known as the "Defence Fire Service" and the RAF Firefighting and Rescue Service. They were known collectively as the Ministry of Defence Fire Services, but in 2004 were formed into the Defence Fire and Rescue Service
Defence Fire and Rescue Service
The Defence Fire and Rescue Service is the primary firefighting and rescue service protecting British defence estates and property. Along with the Royal Air Force Rescue and Firefighting Service it forms the Ministry of Defence Fire Services.-History:...
. This also includes private contractors brought in to protect sites such as small defence establishments.
The DFRS is the largest non geographical or local authority FRS in the UK and the training, rank structure and equipment used are similar to that operated by their local authority fire service counterparts.
As a general rule the RAF Fire Service covers runways or airfields with particular expertise in defusing aircraft munitions.
The civilian Defence Fire Service covered domestic sites, but there were cross overs and both services could be called to airfield and domestic situations.
Both RAF and defence personnel can serve abroad both in peace time and at war.
Both the Royal Navy and British Army operate their own appliances and services at their respective bases and operating areas. Royal Marines facilities are serviced by the Royal Navy.
Private and industrial FRS
Some large factories operate their own private or industrial fire services to protect their interests and provide a first attack capability until local authority fire crews arrive.BNFL
British Nuclear Fuels and some other nuclear power station operators have their own on-site fire service.Ports
Several large ports have their own fire service, such as FelixstowePort of Felixstowe
The Port of Felixstowe, in Felixstowe, Suffolk is the UK's busiest container port, dealing with 35% of the country's container cargo. It was developed following the abandonment of a project for a deep-water harbour at Maplin Sands. In 2005, it was ranked as the 28th busiest container port in the...
.
Event fire safety services
Several private event fire safety units operate in the UK at major events such as air shows, regattas, concerts and on film sets. They sometimes use the services of off-duty fire fighters and emergency personnel to provide fire cover at outdoor events. The cover normally consists of one or two standard fire appliances with perhaps a rapid response or control vehicle.Fire services protecting royal properties
Several state properties, including royal residences and the Palace of WestminsterPalace of Westminster
The Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament or Westminster Palace, is the meeting place of the two houses of the Parliament of the United Kingdom—the House of Lords and the House of Commons...
, are protected by their own fire services in the interests of protecting sites of heritage and royal importance. The Royal Household Fire Service is responsible for firefighting at Royal properties.
Fire appliances
A wide range of equipment and vehicles are used by fire services in the UK.See also
- London Fire BrigadeLondon Fire BrigadeThe London Fire Brigade is the statutory fire and rescue service for London.Founded in 1865, it is the largest of the fire services in the United Kingdom and the fourth-largest in the world with nearly 7,000 staff, including 5,800 operational firefighters based in 112 fire...
- UK Firefighter dispute 2002/2003UK Firefighter dispute 2002/2003The 2002-2003 UK firefighter dispute began when the UK firefighters union, the Fire Brigades Union , voted to take strike action in an attempt to secure a better salary...
- Historical Fire Brigades of the United Kingdom
- History of fire safety legislation in the United KingdomHistory of fire safety legislation in the United KingdomThe history of fire safety legislation in the United Kingdom formally covers the period from the formation of the united kingdom of Great Britain in 1707, but is founded in the history of such legislation in England and Wales and Scotland prior to the Union....
- Fire Services in ScotlandFire services in ScotlandFire services in Scotland are provided by Fire and Rescue Services each under the control of a Fire and Rescue Authority or a joint fire board ....
- Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for ScotlandHer Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for ScotlandHer Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland or HM Fire Service Inspectorate is an autonomous agency of the Scottish Government - based in St Andrew's House, Edinburgh, its function is to: "improve the efficiency, effectiveness and standards of the fire and rescue services in Scotland", it...
- Fire and Rescue Authority (Scotland)Fire and Rescue Authority (Scotland)A Fire and Rescue Authority is a body constituted under the Fire Act 2005 for the purposes of providing and managing fire-fighting and rescue services within a Council Area or group of such areas in Scotland.-Constitution:...
External links
- The Fire Service College
- The Scottish Fire Services College
- Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate
- Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate for Scotland
- UK Fire Service urbans search and rescue dog teams
- Fire Service
- Chief Fire Officers' Association
- Chief Fire Officers Association (Scotland)
- UK Fire News
- Scottish Fire and Rescue Services Procurement - Information for Suppliers