Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of allowing Chief Fire Officers to (a) amend terms and conditions of employment of and (b) have increased powers to choose the (i) training and (ii) equipment for their teams.

In our recent Fire Reform White Paper (May 2022) we confirmed our intention to legislate to give Chief Fire Officers’ operational independence, in line with recommendations from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services.

We also sought input from the fire leaders on how to deliver this goal.