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..."[1] 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."[2]
Fire services in England, Scotland and Wales are not formed nationally, though a single service exists for 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.[3] 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 councillors, 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.[4] 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.
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.
In 2002, there was a series of national fire strikes,[7][8] 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. "[12]
The fire service in England and Wales is scrutinised by a House of Commons 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.[13]
Government response
This document, and the subsequent government response[14] 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.[15] 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.[16][17][18][19]
Consequential to the Government of Wales Act 2006 future legislation might be passed which can affect England only.
Fire and rescue services in Northern Ireland are provided by a single entity, the Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service, a Statutory Corporation funded by the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety.
Fire services in Scotland are the responsibility of the Cabinet Secretary for Justice in the Scottish Government.[22] Previously the responsibility lay with the Secretary of State for Scotland (the relevant "Secretary of State" referred to in legislation applicable to Scotland).
Historically, there had been about 1600 local authority fire services 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.
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 Inspectorate or HMFSI,[31] 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.[32][33] but would be advised by a new department under the direction of the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser - see below.
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 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.
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.
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 Officers 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.[35] 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[36] 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.[37] The appointee will assume the historical function of Her Majesty's Fire Service Inspectorate.
Except for the period when the National Fire Service 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 [4]. It functions as an autonomous body under the charge of the Justice Ministry of the Scottish Government[39]
Except for the period when the National Fire Service existed, matters concerning fire fighting fell within the remit of the government of Northern Ireland.
Brigades are further sub-divided according to local practice as follows:
The Cabinet Office is responsible for the Civil Contingencies Secretariat (CSS),[46] 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[47] 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.[48]
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. This levy is called a precept.
In 2002, Professor Sir George Bain 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..."[49]
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".[49] 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.
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 control. 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".[50]
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[51]) 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.
| Northern Ireland Fire & Rescue Service [53] |
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 Areas.
| Brigade | Council Areas (if different from brigade name) |
|---|---|
| Central Scotland Fire and Rescue Service | Clackmannanshire, Falkirk, Stirling |
| Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue Service | |
| Fife Fire and Rescue Service | |
| Grampian Fire and Rescue Service | Aberdeen, Aberdeenshire, Moray |
| Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service | Highland, Orkney, Shetland, Na h-Eileanan Siar (Western Isles) |
| Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service | East Lothian, Edinburgh, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, West Lothian |
| Strathclyde Fire and Rescue | Argyll and Bute, East Ayrshire,
East Dunbartonshire, East Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire |
| Tayside Fire and Rescue Service | Angus, Dundee, Perth and Kinross |
| Brigade | Principal areas covered |
|---|---|
| Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Service | Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Neath Port Talbot, Pembrokeshire, Powys Swansea |
| North Wales Fire and Rescue Service | Anglesey, Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire, Gwynedd, Wrexham |
| South Wales Fire and Rescue Service | Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Cardiff, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Torfaen, Vale of Glamorgan. |
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.
The Crown Dependencies have their own fire and rescue services:
There are several specialised and private FRSs in the United Kingdom.
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.[52][53] 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 Airport, 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".[54] The number and type of firefighting appliances based at an airport will be determined by the airport's category.[55] 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.
The MoD 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.[56]
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.
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.
British Nuclear Fuels and some other nuclear power station operators have their own on-site fire service.
Several large ports have their own fire service, such as Felixstowe.
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.
Several state properties, including royal residences and the Palace of Westminster, 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.
A wide range of equipment and vehicles are used by fire services in the UK.
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