2 October 2004 - Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 Now in Force
Friday 1 October 2004 sees the Fire and
Rescue Services Act 2004 come into force.
The Act provides new powers, the emphasis being on fire prevention
particularly for the most vulnerable people, which will assist in the fire
and rescue services quest for safer communities.
The wider roles taken on by the service over the past 50 years, which go
beyond firefighting duties, for the first time have now been formally
recognised within the Act. These extra roles include dealing with
terrorist threats, environmental disasters, such as flooding, landslips and
rescues from road traffic accidents.
Mr. Nick Raynsford, Fire and Rescue Service Minister commented:
"The Act is a substantial step forward in the drive towards modernising the fire and rescue service.
"Carrying out crucial community fire safety work has now been placed on a statutory footing for the first time. This will help save more lives and reduce injuries from fire - and this is Government's foremost priority.
"Additionally this legislation recognises the other core duties that the service carries out, beyond firefighting, such as rescues from road accidents and responding to the new terrorist threat".
The Government has an agenda for the modernisation of the fire and rescue service and the new act, Fire and Rescue Service Act 2004, which replaces the Fire Services Act 1947, will go a long way in the development of a more modern and efficient fire and rescue service for the 21st Century.
Provisions included in the Fire Service Act are as follows (taken from the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister web site):
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Safer communities – a new duty on all fire and rescue authorities to promote fire safety underpins a shift toward a more prevention-based approach, thereby helping to save more lives by reducing fires occurring in the first place.
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Modern legislative framework - replaces out-dated legislation with a new framework that recognises the Fire and Rescue Service’s role in responding to a range of incidents, e.g. road traffic accidents, alongside its traditional fire fighting duty. The Act also allows for the recognition of the Service's wider role in other emergencies, for example serious flooding and measures to plan for and respond to the new terrorist threat.
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National Framework – the Act provides for the Fire and Rescue National Framework, the latest version of which was published on 16 July, to have statutory effect. It places a duty on the Secretary of State to keep the Framework up to date and report against it at least once every two years. The Framework sets out the Government’s requirements for the Fire and Rescue Service and the support it will provide. The Act provides a power to ensure that fire and rescue authorities have regard to the strategic priorities, objectives and guidance set out in the Framework.
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The regional approach – the Act updates previous powers to combine fire and rescue authorities. It maintains re-structuring as an option, where Fire and Rescue Authorities fail to work together through voluntary regional management arrangements, to deliver functions crucial to resilience and a more efficient and effective service.
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Civil resilience – the Act underpins the Fire and Rescue Service’s contribution to national resilience, through new powers to direct fire and rescue authorities during particular, specific emergencies to ensure a co-ordinated and strategic response and resources are focused where they are needed most.
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Reinforcement schemes – the Act updates existing powers to allow fire and rescue authorities to enter into reinforcement schemes with other authorities to provide mutual assistance in the discharge of their core duties.
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Partnership – fire and rescue authorities’ powers to delegate functions are extended to cover their newly recognised powers and duties, to enable partnership working with others - for example in the promotion of fire safety. The Act ensures that whereby an authority can only delegate its duty for fighting fires to another authority or others who employ firefighters.
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Equipment power – the Act provides powers for the Secretary of State to procure equipment and services that promote the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of fire and rescue authorities. It also provides powers for the Secretary of State to direct authorities, if necessary, on the use of their equipment, in order to ensure uniformity of approach across the Service – crucial to national resilience – or in the interest of public safety.
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Charging – the Act maintains the existing ability for fire and rescue authorities to charge for particular services. It maintains the previous exclusion of charging for fire fighting (unless at sea) and also prohibits fire and rescue authorities from charging for the provision of emergency medical assistance.
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Negotiating bodies – the Act includes reserve powers to set up new bodies to negotiate pay and conditions of Service. Effective negotiating machinery is critical to modernisation. A review of the current NJC arrangements is ongoing but the powers in the Act could be used to establish new statutory bodies if the review does not result in satisfactory new arrangements. The Act also allows Ministers to issue guidance to negotiating bodies, whether or not they are statutory.
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Engaging stakeholders – the Act abolishes the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council (CFBAC) which had become too cumbersome and complex and incapable of delivering swift, meaningful change. More effective and flexible stakeholder advisory and consultative forums, for example the Practitioners Forum, Business and Community Safety Forum and Fire and Rescue Service Sounding Board are already in place and helping producers and users of the Service and those with wider expertise, to inform the process of modernisation.
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Pensions – the Act will bring forward the existing pension provisions while providing new powers to create new, multiple pension schemes.
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Devolution – the Act devolves the remaining responsibilities for fire and rescue authorities in Wales to the National Assembly for Wales, taking forward the commitment to do so set out in the ‘Our Fire and Rescue Service’ White Paper. The Act will commence in Wales later this year. Responsibility for the Fire and Rescue Service in Scotland and Northern Ireland is already a devolved matter. The Scottish Executive introduced a Bill to change the legal framework for the Fire and Rescue Service in Scotland on 28 June 2004.
Article by Alexandra Johnston
