Lord Jackson of Peterborough
Main Page: Lord Jackson of Peterborough (Conservative - Life peer)
Brandon Lewis
The settlement this year was fair to rural and urban authorities, and we had a strong debate on that in the House. The Government have put an extra £11.5 million into supporting rural areas. The hon. Lady’s fire authority has managed to increase reserves by £3 million in the last couple of years, so clearly it is finding that it has enough funds.
Mr Stewart Jackson (Peterborough) (Con)
The Minister will know of the disquiet about the decision of Cambridgeshire fire and rescue service to make its chief fire officer redundant and then to reappoint him almost immediately. Will he assure the House that he will issue robust guidelines to ensure that such practices are not repeated?
Brandon Lewis
My hon. Friend makes a fair point. As he knows, I have written to Cambridgeshire fire and rescue service. The road it has gone down is questionable with the level of cost for the chief fire officer, but it must make those decisions locally. The Government have made their position clear, and I will soon respond more widely to the issues as part of our response to the Knight review.