Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent discussions he has had with West Midlands Fire Authority on staffing patterns in that fire service.

[Holding Reply: Wednesday 9 July 2014]

Staffing patterns are entirely the responsibility of West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority. I have had no discussions with the Authority on this matter.

The Knight Review ‘Facing the Future', found huge variations in the way fire and rescue authorities operated and concluded that there were significant opportunities for sensible savings such as through: sharing of senior staff, reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement, shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management, locally led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.