Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she has taken to work with stakeholders in the Fire and Rescue services to establish national standards.

The Home Office funds the independent Fire Standards Board (FSB) to develop and maintain a comprehensive set of professional standards for fire and rescue services in England.

The FSB has published 19 national standards for fire and rescue services covering a range of topics from emergency response driving to leading and developing people and a code of ethics.

The Home Office will continue to work with stakeholders to build on the work of the FSB in the context of the Government’s fire and rescue service reform agenda. As part of this agenda in December I will chair the first meeting of a Ministerial Advisory Group, with representation from across the fire and rescue sector.