Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (UK)

Product Information

Because of the extra resources needed for the secondary functions, shortfalls appeared in budgets with increasing problems. To resolve the problem with budgets the fire service started to lobby the government for a new fire services act which would include provisions for all the secondary functions. The result is the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 and it is now law. The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Chapter 21 This Section re-enacts existing powers in section 26 of the Fire Services Act 1947. It will enable more than one pension scheme to operate at any one time. Section 34 Information in connection with pensions etc Section 26 re-enacts in an amended form section 33 of the Fire Services Act 1947. The Secretary of State will be able to hold a public inquiry into the performance of a fire and rescue authority or its handling of a particular incident. Section 27 Inspectors

Directions as to reinforcement schemes gives the Secretary of State the power to direct the fire and rescue authorities involved to make, vary or revoke such a scheme. Before giving a direction, the Secretary of State will give all authorities concerned the opportunity to make representations to him and he may hold a public inquiry. Section 15 Arrangements with other employers of fire-fighters Power to respond to other eventualities; and other services. replaces section 3(1)(e) of the Fire Services Act 1947, and will provide fire and rescue authorities with discretion to equip and respond to events beyond its core functions provided for elsewhere in the Bill. A fire and rescue authority will be free to act where it believes there is a risk to life or the environment. This would allow, for example, specialist activities such as rope rescue. A fire and rescue authority will be able to exercise the power in support of another fire and rescue authority – for example, under a reinforcement scheme (see Sections 13 and 14). Section 12 Other servicesThis clause re-enacts section 16(1) to (3) of the Fire Services Act 1947 and requires any person who proposes to carry out any works for the purpose of supplying water to any part of the area of a fire and rescue authority to give at least six weeks’ written notice to the authority under subsection (1). A person proposing to carry out any works affecting a fire hydrant is required to give at least seven days’ notice in writing. This Section requires the Secretary of State to consult on and prepare a Fire and Rescue National Framework (“the Framework”), to which fire and rescue authorities must have regard in carrying out their functions. The Secretary of State must keep the Framework under review and must consult on any significant revisions made to it. A draft Framework was published for consultation on 11th December 2003 setting out the Government’s objectives for the Fire and Rescue Service and what fire and rescue authorities should do to achieve these objectives. The Framework also sets out the support the Government will provide to fire and rescue authorities. Section 22 Intervention by Secretary of State

This section will give combined fire and rescue authorities the powers which are already available to county fire authorities, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and metropolitan county fire and civil defence authorities under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972. PART 2 FUNCTIONS OF FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITIES Core functions Section 6 Fire safety As announced in the ‘Our Fire and Rescue Service’ White Paper, the Government believes that the time is now right to devolve responsibilities for fire and rescue authorities to the National Assembly for Wales. The Bill therefore devolves responsibility for the Service in Wales and has been drafted in liaison and agreement with officials from the National Assembly and the Wales Office. The Bill provides for training for fire and rescue authority employees (and others) to be delivered centrally, regionally or locally. This Section re-enacts and enhances provision allowing the Secretary of State to set up and maintain central or local (including regional) training centres. The Fire Service College at Moreton in Marsh is the central training institution for the Fire and Rescue Service. However, the College is not able to provide all the development and training for the service and some training (for example, training that needs to be carried out regularly) may be best delivered at a regional or local level. PART 4 EMPLOYMENT Negotiating bodies Section 31 Negotiating bodies Under subsection (3), if it is not practicable for written notice to be given, the person is regarded as having given such notice if he gives it as soon as practicable. It is an offence under subsection (4) if, without reasonable excuse, a person fails to give notice as required. Under subsection (5) a person is liable on summary conviction to a level 5 fine. PART 6 SUPPLEMENTARY Powers in the event of emergency etc Section 43 Powers of fire-fighters etc in an emergency etc The Secretary of State will report to Parliament on the extent to which fire and rescue authorities are acting in accordance with the Framework and any action he has taken to ensure they do so. He will not report on individual fire and rescue authorities. Supervision Section 25 InformationThis provision provides authorised employees of a fire and rescue authority with the powers to deal with fires, road traffic accidents and other emergencies. It replaces section 30(1) of the Fire Services Act 1947 which was limited to dealing with extinguishing, or preventing the spread of, fires, and recognises the wider range of duties of fire-fighters, including the work which fire and rescue authorities do in responding to road traffic accidents. Powers of entry Section 44 Powers of entry Section 31 provides the Secretary of State with reserve powers to establish negotiating machinery for the Fire and Rescue Service. The powers allow the Secretary of State to determine the number, composition and chair of the negotiating bodies following consultation. Subsection (2) requires that a statutory body includes employers, unions and an independent chairman.

Training centres, re-enacts provisions in the Fire Services Act 1947 that allow a fire and rescue authority to establish training centres for its staff. Section 19 Charging The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c. 21), sometimes abbreviated as FRSA 2004, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Initially there were no problems as the secondary functions called for little resources. By 1970 the secondary functions were demanding more resources, especially fire safety. With the introduction of the Fire Precautions Act the staff in fire safety departments grew considerably. Fire safety officers were required to ensure that all premises met the required fire safety standards. This was achieved by conducting surveys of the premises, re-inspections and finally issuing a fire certificate, this proved to be expensive, because of the human resources needed. The Bill does not repeal the provisions of the Fire Services Act 1947 as they apply in Scotland, which will remain in force. The only exceptions to this are the pension provisions in Part 4 of the Bill and consequential provisions, which do extend to Scotland as pension policy is a reserved matter and not a devolved issue. The Bill, therefore, repeals the existing pension provisions in the 1947 Act, and in turn extends the replacement provisions, to England, Wales and Scotland. Provides for the means by which a notice under clause 44 may be legally served. It is similar to service provisions under fire safety and health and safety law and will allow legal service by electronic means where the recipient agrees to this. It corresponds to provisions in the Communications Act 2003. False alarms Section 47 False alarms of fire work in partnership with their communities and a wide range of partners locally and nationally to deliver their service The Act is not expected to have a significant impact on either public expenditure or manpower. Through the process of regional organisation and the introduction of Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs), it is expected that fire and rescue authorities will be given the flexibility to place greater emphasis on prevention and accrue expenditure savings as a result. IRMPs in particular should allow authorities to meet more effectively the particular service demands in their area. Whilst there may be a possibility that some fire and rescue services (typically smaller, rural authorities) could incur some short-term cost increases as a result of adopting the provisions in the Act (such as an enhanced role in promoting fire safety), such costs should be offset in the longer term by the efficiency savings that the Act will bring about.

Section 1 defines what is meant in the Bill by “fire and rescue authority”, which can differ in constitution from area to area. The establishment and membership of metropolitan county fire and civil defence authorities is dealt with in section 26 of the Local Government Act 1985 (c. 51). The London Fire and Civil Defence Authority became the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority under the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (c. 29) – see section 328 Section 2 Power to create combined fire and rescue authorities Section 3 Creation of combined fire and rescue authorities: supplementary Section 4 Combined authorities under the Fire Services Act 1947 Directions as to arrangements under Section 16 re-enacts provisions in the Fire Services Act 1947 that provide the Secretary of State with the ability to require fire and rescue authorities to enter into contractual arrangements under Section 16 (or to vary or cancel any such arrangements). The Secretary of State can exercise the power on his own initiative or where one of the authorities has asked him to intervene, but the power must be exercised in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Before issuing a direction the Secretary of State must give the fire and rescue authorities affected the opportunity to make representations to him and he may hold a public inquiry. Supplementary Section 18 Training centresFire fighting re-enacts the existing statutory duty for a fire and rescue authority to plan and provide arrangements for fighting fires and protecting life and property from fires within its area. A fire and rescue authority is required to secure sufficient equipment etc. and training to discharge its duty in normal circumstances. A fire and rescue authority must also put in place effective arrangements for receiving and responding to calls for help and for obtaining information to exercise its functions; the latter might include, for example, information about the nature and characteristics of buildings within the authority’s area or availability of and access to water supplies. Section 8 Road traffic accidents An Act to make provision about fire and rescue authorities and their functions; to make provision about employment by, and powers of employees of, fire and rescue authorities; to make provision about education and training and pension schemes; to make provision about the supply of water; to make provision about false alarms of fire; to provide for the funding of advisory bodies; and for connected purposes. This clause re-enacts provisions in the Fire Services Act 1947 which enable the Secretary of State to prescribe the circumstances in which a fire and rescue authority or a Scottish fire authority may provide information to a person who has opted or transferred out of any pension scheme for fire-fighters. It also re-enacts the existing provisions about charging for administrative expenses. Section 35 Preservation of existing pension scheme There are four key responsibilities for FRAs that they must ensure that they make provision for including: