Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effect of changes in the number of fire safety inspectors on the fire services’ ability to carry out inspection and safety work since 2010.

Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work.

Each fire and rescue authority is required by the Fire and Rescue National Framework for England to have in place a risk-based inspection programme and management strategy for auditing compliance with the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 in their area.

It is the responsibility of each fire and rescue authority to manage and reduce the fire and rescue related risks facing their communities, balancing the allocation of its resources across its prevention, protection and opera-tional response functions for the benefit of the communities they serve.

Fire and rescue services are now subject to inspection by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services.