Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and Adrian Bailey

Monday 20th January 2014 Commons Chamber

[Brandon Lewis]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. The Bellwin scheme is only one part of the funding available for various issues from which areas affected by flooding will suffer. I am pleased to say that the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs will be addressing the matter of sea defences in a report to Parliament in the next few weeks, as the Environment Agency’s programme moves forward.

[Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)]

9. What assessment he has made of the effect of the local government finance settlement on the most vulnerable communities.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Brandon Lewis and Adrian Bailey

Monday 3rd June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Adrian Bailey (West Bromwich West) (Lab/Co-op)]

5. What plans he has to enable external organisations to have greater involvement in the operation of fire and rescue services.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Brandon Lewis)]

The hon. Gentleman may have not realised, or may have forgotten, that the last Government’s Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 allowed external organisations to become involved in the provision of fire services. For my own part, I am helping fire and rescue authorities to explore the best way of delivering their services to meet the needs of their communities.

[Mr Bailey]

What the Minister said in his letter to the Regulatory Reform Committee rather conflicts with the answer he has just given. The fact is that, as part of his drive to make further savings, he wants to remove—as he said in his letter—the legal obstacles to the privatisation of the emergency fire services. Given that West Midlands fire service is already two years into a programme to cut its budget by nearly a quarter, and has lost nearly 10% of its firefighters, my constituents will regard with alarm—