- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) uniformed and (b) non-uniformed female personnel are employed in the fire and rescue services in (i) retained posts, (ii) wholetime posts, (iii) emergency fire control rooms and (iv) volunteer and auxiliary posts.
Answer
The information requested isgiven in the table of the Diversity Profile of Scottish Fire Brigades by Sectoron page 29 of the Annual Report of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of FireServices for Scotland published in December 2004, a copy of which isavailable in the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Bib. number34686). Updatedfigures will be included in HM Chief Inspector’s Annual Report for 2004-05,which will be published shortly.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the recommended number of firefighters required is to deal with a (a) house fire and (b) fire in a multi-storey block.
Answer
It is for individual fire andrescue services to determine the weight and speed of operational response to incidentsin their areas, in the context of their Integrated Risk Management Plan. In doingso, fire and rescue services take cognisance of relevant national guidance and otherregulatory requirements such as health and safety regulations in order to provideeffective protection to their communities and safe systems of work for their employeesand those who may be affected by their operations.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive when a decision will be made in respect of proposals to amalgamate emergency fire control rooms.
Answer
We have been undertakingfurther work in respect of the issues raised in response to the consultationexercise on this issue. Ministers are considering a number of options and Iwill report the conclusions to Parliament in due course.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many vacancies there are in the retained duty system in each fire and rescue authority.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Cathy Jamieson on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how much the police have spent investigating road accidents in each month since 1999, broken down by constabulary.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will afford full liability insurance cover to fire and rescue service personnel attending terrorist incidents, given that the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005 places a legal requirement on fire and rescue authorities to attend terrorist incidents.
Answer
Dependant on the circumstancesof an individual, the Firefighters Pension Scheme and the Scheme of Conditions ofService for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services provide lump sums of up toseven times pensionable pay in the event of death and up to 85% of salary if aninjury curtails earnings capacity. These are no fault awards and are intended toensure that firefighters or their dependants are adequately compensated withouteither the need for litigation or to purchase additional insurance cover. The decisionto take out a personal insurance policy is a matter of personal choice for individuals,however, only a small number of personal insurance policy types have terrorism exclusionclauses.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive at what stage each fire and rescue authority’s integrated risk management plan is and what the projected dates are for completing each stage.
Answer
The introduction of IntegratedRisk Management Plans (IRMPs) took effect from April 2005. All fire and rescue authoritiesand joint fire and rescue boards have completed the compilation of, and consultationon, their initial IRMPs, which are now being implemented. As part of the IRMP process,fire and rescue authorities and joint fire and rescue boards produce, and consultwidely on, draft annual action plans setting out the details of how the IRMP isto be implemented in each year of the plan. Fire and rescue authorities are currentlydeveloping their draft year two action plans which will go out to formal consultationto all stakeholders likely to be affected by the proposals. Following considerationof consultation responses, the action plans will be implemented in April 2006.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive what the standard attendance time is for the first fire engine to arrive at a house fire in each fire and rescue authority.
Answer
This information is not heldcentrally. Individual fire and rescue authorities and joint fire and rescue boardsinclude target attendance times within their Integrated Risk Management Plans, whichare subject to wide consultation before they are implemented. Individual fire andrescue services are required to publish annual performance data in respect of responsetimes.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive whether a freeze has been put on spending on existing fire control rooms pending a decision on their future and, if so, when this freeze was implemented.
Answer
The Scottish Executive has notplaced a “freeze” on investment in emergency fire control rooms. Decisions on investmentin individual control rooms are primarily a matter for fire and rescue authoritiesand joint fire and rescue boards.
- Asked by: Kenny MacAskill, MSP for Lothians, Scottish National Party
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Date lodged: Monday, 31 October 2005
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Current Status:
Answered by Hugh Henry on 9 November 2005
To ask the Scottish Executive how many additional staff have been employed in the fire and rescue services as a direct result of the new dimension programme.
Answer
The purpose of the new dimensionprogramme in Scotland is to improve overall fire and rescue service capabilityand resilience to deal with major incidents, including terrorist-related incidents,and relatively less serious incidents which may occur. The programme has been establishedas a collaborative exercise between the Scottish Executive, as providers of appropriateequipment, training and support, and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Authorities, asemployers of the staff to deploy the new resources in addition to their existingduties. This approach has been agreed with Chief Officers of all Scottish fire andrescue services.
The Scottish Executivecontinues to support this project by providing the necessary funding for two dedicatedstaff members within HM Fire Services Inspectorate. These staff co-ordinate andmanage the programme, including a planning and training liaison role with fire andrescue services, training establishments, emergency service partners and on relevantnational working groups.
