Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of the Incident Reporting System in capturing the major causes of fire in domestic properties.
The web-based Incident Recording System (IRS) provides a standard template, supported by detailed guidance on how to complete the form, used by all Fire and Rescue Services in England, Wales and Scotland. It captures a range of detailed information on fires attended by FRSs, including the cause of fire, source of ignition, power of ignition, the item first ignited and the item(s) responsible for the main spread of fire.
It is recognised that changing interests and technologies may not be explicitly reflected in the IRS. The Home Office regularly considers how best to review both the IRS functionality and data collection, to ensure they continue to meet the needs of FRSs and other data users, particularly in light of the Fire Reform Agenda.
Home Office officials have regular discussions with fire and rescue services about the data collected through the IRS and collect feedback about the IRS to feed into future reviews.