Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress has been made on discussions with the US Administration on allowing the pre-clearance in the UK of passengers for immigration purposes.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
Discussions with the US Administration on their proposals for the pre-clearance in the UK of passengers travelling to the US for immigration purposes are ongoing. No decision has yet been made.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the role of the Fire Service College in (a) providing essential and unique training services to the UK fire and rescue services and (b) assisting the new professional standards body in building a framework of standards for the service.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Government does not assess the College’s role in the provision of its services.
It is the responsibility for individual fire and rescue services to decide where training is procured and assure themselves of the quality of that training.
The sector based project team led by the National Fire Chiefs Council are currently undertaking work to explore options for a new professional standards body, and they will engage with the Fire Service College as a valued stakeholder during this process.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reasons the UK National Resilience contract with the Fire Service College was terminated by her Department; what account was taken in that decision of the key objective of the Department for Communities and Local Government in selling that college to secure continuing access to National Resilience strategic assets; and if she will make a statement.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The 2-year National Resilience training contract will end on 26 April 2017. As part of Goverment’s policy to devolve further responsibilities to the Fire sector, centralised training has now been passed to a lead authority, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority. This offers increased value for money and allows in-year savings made to be used for the benefit of the national resilience capabilities. National Resilience assets are largely owned by the Fire and Rescue Authorities, and suitable training grounds remain available.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many school fires have been reported in each of the last 10 years; how many of those fires were caused by arson; and what the total cost was of replacing school buildings affected by (a) those fires and (b) those fires caused by arson.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The latest published figures on fires in schools can be found in “Fire Statistics Great Britain: 2013/14” - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/fire-statistics-great-britain-2013-to-2014 and show that there were 593 fires in schools in 2013/14 in Great Britain of which 134 were deliberate fires (it should be noted that not all deliberate fires are arson). Subsequent publications have included schools under a broader category of “Education premises”.
We have not estimated the costs of fires in schools.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what discussions her Department had with the Department for Education before the decision to withdraw government guidance that most new schools are expected to be fitted with automatic fire sprinkler systems.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department for Education’s consultation on Fire Safety Design for Schools – Building Bulletin (BB) 100 Revised closed on 15 August and the Department for Education is considering responses.
We will engage with the Department for Education on its proposals on the way forward, ahead of its publication .
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether the Government's chief fire and rescue advisor was consulted on changes to policy on fire safety policy for new school buildings.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Department for Education’s consultation on Fire Safety Design for Schools – Building Bulletin (BB) 100 Revised closed on 15 August and the Department for Education is considering responses.
The Home Office, including the Chief Fire and Rescue Adviser, will engage with the Department for Education on its proposals on the way forward, ahead of its publication.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many hand-held radar speed detectors are in use by police constabularies in England; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the merits of recruiting and training civilian volunteers to use such detectors.
Answered by Brandon Lewis
The Home Office does not hold this information centrally. The purchase and deployment of speed enforcement devices is a local operational matter for individual police forces. There has been no assessment made on the merits of recruiting and training civilian volunteers in the use of these devices. Decisions on how the public can assist the police in speed enforcement activity are matters for individual Chief Officers.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what comparative assessment she has made of recent trends in domestic fires caused by (a) an electrical source of ignition and (b) other reasons for domestic fires.
Answered by Mike Penning
Between 1st April 2010 and 31st March 2015 there were over 36,000 accidental dwelling fires in England where the source of ignition was “Electrical Distribution” or “Other Electrical appliances”. Over the same period, there were 149,000 accidental dwelling fires in England.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many domestic fires were caused by an electrical source of ignition in each of the last five years broken down by year.
Answered by Mike Penning
Between 1st April 2010 and 31st March 2015 there were over 36,000 accidental dwelling fires in England where the source of ignition was “Electrical Distribution” or “Other Electrical appliances”. Over the same period, there were 149,000 accidental dwelling fires in England.
Asked by: Jim Fitzpatrick (Labour - Poplar and Limehouse)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what plans her Department has for the future of its Fire Kills campaign.
Answered by Mike Penning
The evaluation of the recent Fire Kills Unsung Heroes campaign is currently underway and the results will be analysed and fed into future campaign development. The Fire Kills campaign is included in plans for 2016/17 subject to appropriate approvals from the Secretary of State.