Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (UK)

Product Information

Provides for the means by which a notice under clause 44 may be legally served. It is similar to service provisions under fire safety and health and safety law and will allow legal service by electronic means where the recipient agrees to this. It corresponds to provisions in the Communications Act 2003. False alarms Section 47 False alarms of fire The Bill extends to England and Wales only with the exception of the provisions regarding pensions in Part 4 (as pension policy is a reserved matter) and various consequential provisions which also extend to Scotland. Wherever appropriate, it gives the National Assembly for Wales the powers of the Secretary of State in its application to Wales. Section 61 Short title

The Bill provides for training for fire and rescue authority employees (and others) to be delivered centrally, regionally or locally. This Section re-enacts and enhances provision allowing the Secretary of State to set up and maintain central or local (including regional) training centres. The Fire Service College at Moreton in Marsh is the central training institution for the Fire and Rescue Service. However, the College is not able to provide all the development and training for the service and some training (for example, training that needs to be carried out regularly) may be best delivered at a regional or local level. PART 4 EMPLOYMENT Negotiating bodies Section 31 Negotiating bodies Abolishes the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council, which was established under section 29 of the Fire Services Act 1947 to provide general advice to the Secretary of State on matters relating to the operation of that Act. The Council also served as statutory consultee prior to the exercise by the Secretary of State of certain of his regulation-making powers under the 1947 Act (for example with regard to pensions). Where such regulation-making powers are re-enacted elsewhere in the Bill, the Secretary of State will be under a duty to consult with such persons as he considers are appropriate. Section 50 Repeal of Fire Services Act 1947 Section 51 Amendments Section 52 Repeal The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c. 21), sometimes abbreviated as FRSA 2004, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.Exercise of powers at or under sea, the Maritime Coastguard Agency (MCA) has a general duty to manage the response of UK authorities to maritime incidents both in territorial waters and beyond. To support such response the MCA will enter into agreements with other service providers. Fire and rescue services may indicate to the MCA a willingness to provide a response to fires and other emergencies at sea and to provide fire crews equipped and trained to undertake such work. Section 20 will enable fire and rescue authorities to continue to provide a response to incidents at sea and under the sea (for example, in the Channel Tunnel). PART 3 ADMINISTRATION Fire and Rescue National Framework Section 21 Fire and Rescue National Framework

Training centres, re-enacts provisions in the Fire Services Act 1947 that allow a fire and rescue authority to establish training centres for its staff. Section 19 Charging Directions as to arrangements under Section 16 re-enacts provisions in the Fire Services Act 1947 that provide the Secretary of State with the ability to require fire and rescue authorities to enter into contractual arrangements under Section 16 (or to vary or cancel any such arrangements). The Secretary of State can exercise the power on his own initiative or where one of the authorities has asked him to intervene, but the power must be exercised in the interests of economy, efficiency and effectiveness. Before issuing a direction the Secretary of State must give the fire and rescue authorities affected the opportunity to make representations to him and he may hold a public inquiry. Supplementary Section 18 Training centres The Act is not expected to have a significant impact on either public expenditure or manpower. Through the process of regional organisation and the introduction of Integrated Risk Management Plans (IRMPs), it is expected that fire and rescue authorities will be given the flexibility to place greater emphasis on prevention and accrue expenditure savings as a result. IRMPs in particular should allow authorities to meet more effectively the particular service demands in their area. Whilst there may be a possibility that some fire and rescue services (typically smaller, rural authorities) could incur some short-term cost increases as a result of adopting the provisions in the Act (such as an enhanced role in promoting fire safety), such costs should be offset in the longer term by the efficiency savings that the Act will bring about.Prior to the second world war the fire service was run by local government and the responsibility delegated in most cases to the police. During the second world war the fire service was nationalised (NFS) and it was agreed on cessation of hostilities that the fire brigades would be returned to local authorities. In 1947 the Fire Services Act became law, making the fire service a department in its own right and provided a legal framework how fire service should be setup and administrated. The core function was to extinguishing fires and very little was included about the other functions of the fire service. The fire safety role was defined in subsection 1(1)(f) which states the fire service should provide fire prevention advice on request and with regards to the special services roll, it stated that fire brigade equipment could be used for other than firefighting purposes. The Bill does not extend to Northern Ireland. PART 1 FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITIES 1 Fire and rescue authorities

The Secretary of State will report to Parliament on the extent to which fire and rescue authorities are acting in accordance with the Framework and any action he has taken to ensure they do so. He will not report on individual fire and rescue authorities. Supervision Section 25 Information

Changes over time for: Section 1

This section will give combined fire and rescue authorities the powers which are already available to county fire authorities, the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority and metropolitan county fire and civil defence authorities under section 111 of the Local Government Act 1972. PART 2 FUNCTIONS OF FIRE AND RESCUE AUTHORITIES Core functions Section 6 Fire safety This provision provides authorised employees of a fire and rescue authority with the powers to deal with fires, road traffic accidents and other emergencies. It replaces section 30(1) of the Fire Services Act 1947 which was limited to dealing with extinguishing, or preventing the spread of, fires, and recognises the wider range of duties of fire-fighters, including the work which fire and rescue authorities do in responding to road traffic accidents. Powers of entry Section 44 Powers of entry