asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to the concern expressed recently by the chairman of the Chief Fire Officers' Association (details supplied) in the aftermath of the recent County Mayo rail crash, that there were no standards to measure fire brigades preparedness to respond to major accidents; if he will take any steps to ensure that all fire brigades are brought up to an acceptable level of training and preparedness; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Fire Brigades' Training.
41.
I have seen press reports to the effect indicated in the question.
All the relevant fire authorities have major emergency plans to deal with a comprehensive range of emergencies. These plans, which are based on a model plan and extensive guidelines issued by my Department, have been periodically tested by exercises. In this regard, detailed guidance was issued by my Department earlier this year on the planning and organisation of emergency exercises to test the plans and different scenarios and types of exercises were outlined in this guidance document.
It is a matter in the first instance for each individual fire authority to ensure that it has arrangements in place which will enable it to properly discharge its responsibilities for dealing with any emergencies which may occur. The fire brigade is, of course, one of the pivotal services which responds to such emergencies. Fire authorities have carried out assessments of their needs and have programmes of capital investment based on those needs. The programmes are updated through discussions with my Department and during visits to the local authorities by my Department's fire advisory staff. Capital investment in the fire service since 1981 has been of the order of £49 million in new stations, new fire appliances, modern communications equipment, and so on.
In addition to this substantial capital expenditure, operational fire service personnel undertake training on a continuous basis at local level. That training is supplemented by courses at central level provided by the Fire Services Council on a wide variety of subjects. The courses include command courses, fire safety engineering courses, hazardous materials courses, courses in pre-fire planning for first attendance officers, etc. Since January 1987, the council has run 37 such training courses together with a symposium, attended by representatives from all fire authorities, on recent major disasters including the King's Cross fire, the Lockerbie aircraft explosion, the Sheffield football crowd disaster, the Bradford City stand fire and the Zee-brugge ship disaster.