National Response Standards

A fire in an average sized two bed-roomed semi-detached house is equally serious, irrelevant of whether the house is in England, Northern Ireland, Wales and Scotland. Historically, the National Standards of fire cover allowed the attending fire crews to use tried and tested safe operating procedures, developed over many years. Since the introduction of the Integrated Risk Management Planning, many Fire Authorities have chosen to downgrade their operational capability, whilst investing more money into other areas such as community fire safety. Conference believes that this has led to a ‘postcode lottery’ of safety standards across the country, due to Fire Authorities having different mobilising arrangements and crewing levels. This is not only compromising the safety of the communities we serve, but also compromising the safety of firefighters. Conference requires the Executive Council to instigate a study of the varying standards of fire cover that have now been introduced across the country, and the methodology that has been used to determine the level of risk; this being with a view to presenting a case for the re-introduction of national standards of fire cover.