A former fire minister has warned of flaws in proposed legislation which may mean fire and rescue services can charge for fire prevention work.
Baroness Angela Smith raised her concerns during the second reading of the Localism Bill in the House of Lords on Tuesday. She said that while the Bill made it clear that ‘core services’ could not be charged for, and that it listed areas that could not be charged, there were some grey areas that needed clarification.
“The 2004 Act emphasised the provision of community safety and fire prevention work, but this does not appear to be in the Bill as an area that cannot be charged for. Is it the intention of the Government that the fire and rescue services and authorities should have the power to charge for these services in future?”
Baroness Smith also raised concerns about the proposal to give fire services the power to charge for attending false alarms. While she could understand the Government wanting to allow charging for responding to a fire alarm where there is no fire, “it must be clear what the Government consider to be a false call, as opposed to a malicious or hoax call, and what is considered to be malfunctioning equipment.
“There is a serious issue here about additional burdens on business. Already business has responsibility for undertaking fire assessments, and the costs of installing and maintaining fire detection and alarm systems. Statistics show that 80% of businesses fold within 18 months of a fire and we need to ensure that any action taken does not increase risk or overburden businesses.”
Her comments follow similar warnings from a leading detection and alarm service provider, and from the Fire Industry Association.
Baroness Smith also took the opportunity to raise concerns about whether there would be sufficient transparency in the way fire authorities conducted themselves. She said her own experience in response to allegations of mismanagement at Essex Fire and Rescue Service left her “extremely concerned” about the robustness of the current arrangements and whether they were fit for purpose for the new powers.
“With new powers and new charges being introduced, with certain constraints, the public will need to be satisfied that there is proper and effective scrutiny. I regret that my experience to date has not given me confidence in the current system.”
