Fire Service (Metropolitan Areas)
Debate between John Hemming and Yasmin Qureshi(12 years, 2 months ago)
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John Hemming (Birmingham, Yardley) (LD)
I congratulate the hon. Lady on obtaining the debate, and I pay tribute to the firefighters. Obviously, she and I will not agree on the general need to reduce public spending, but does she accept that there are concerns on both sides of the House about the equity between metropolitan areas, the London area and the shire counties? I thank the Minister for agreeing that fire officers can speak to civil servants to deal with the details of the formula, but people on both sides of the House will be concerned to see that the outcome is more equitable than it has been to date.