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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the effect of reductions in local government spending on the effectiveness of fire brigades.

Brandon Lewis

[Holding Reply: Monday 31 March 2014]

Fire and rescue authorities are best placed to assess and manage their services and do this through integrated risk management planning. Fire and rescue authorities now attend 46 per cent fewer incidents than ten years ago and they allocate their resources according to local risk.

There is still scope for fire and rescue authorities to make sensible savings, e.g. through reforms to flexible staffing and crewing arrangements, better procurement; shared services, collaboration with emergency services and other organisations on service delivery and estates, sickness management; sharing of senior staff, locally led mergers and operational collaborations, new fire-fighting technology, preventative approaches and working with local businesses.

In his independent review, Sir Ken Knight concluded that fire and rescue authorities need to transform themselves to reflect the entirely different era of risk and demand they now operate in.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, whether he plans to change the contribution rates to the Firefighters Pension Scheme.

Brandon Lewis

[Holding Reply: Monday 31 March 2014]

The Government response to the consultation on employee contribution rates to apply in the Firefighters’ Pension Schemes from 1 April 2014 was published on 6 March alongside the amending regulations. The Government response can be found at www.gov.uk/government/consultations/firefighters-pension-scheme-1992-and-new-firefighters-pension-scheme-2006

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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what recent assessment he has made of the appropriateness of the current recommended age of retirement for firefighters.

Brandon Lewis

[Holding Reply: Monday 31 March 2014]

An independent review for the Firefighters’ Pension Committee in 2013 found that, under current practices, firefighters would be operationally fit at age 60 if they maintain a physically active and healthy lifestyle. One in three members of a firefighters’ pension scheme is in the New Firefighters’ Pension Scheme 2006, which already has a Normal Pension Age of 60. The Public Service Pensions Act 2013 set the Normal Pension Age for the reformed firefighters’ pension scheme to be age 60 from 2015, in line with the recommendation from Lord Hutton’s independent report.

A firefighter with a full career earning £29,000 will be able to retire at age 60 with a pension of £19,000 per annum. Firefighters will be able to retire before the scheme’s Normal Pension Age with an actuarial reduction.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Mr Jim Cunningham on 2014-03-26.

To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the role of firefighters in responding to the recent floods.

Brandon Lewis

[Holding Reply: Monday 31 March 2014]

More than 1,000 firefighters from across the country assisted with the flood response over December, January and February. We are extremely grateful for the work that they did to reduce water levels and help communities deal with the flooding.