Fire and rescue authority

England and Wales

FOIA Schedule I includes:

14 - A fire and rescue authority constituted by a scheme under section 2 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 or a scheme to which section 4 of that Act applies

Since 2004, firefighters have simply been employees of fire and rescue authorities, so there's no legal distinction between a fire and rescue authority and a fire and rescue service. This is in contrast to the police situations, where police authorities are separate legal persons from their chief officers.

Section 2 of the 2004 Act allows the Secretary of State by order to make a scheme constituting a fire and rescue authority for the combined area of two or more existing fire and rescue authorities. One such scheme seems to have been made:

• SI 2006/2790: Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority

Section 4 of the Act applies to schemes made under sections 5 and 6 of the Fire Services Act 1947. Such schemes have been made by the following orders:

• SI 1995/3127: Avon Fire Authority
• SI 1995/3131: Cleveland Fire Authority
• SI 1995/3132: Humberside Fire Authority
• SI 1995/3133: North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority
• SI 1995/3218: North Wales Fire Authority / Awdurdod Tân Gogledd Cymru
• SI 1995/3229: Mid and West Wales Fire Authority / Awdurdod Tân Canolbarth a Gorllewin Cymru
• SI 1995/3230: South Wales Fire Authority / Awdurdod Tân De Cymru
• SI 1996/2915: Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Combined Fire Authority
• SI 1996/1916: Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority
• SI 1996/2917: Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Fire Authority
• SI 1996/2918: Bedfordshire and Luton Combined Fire Authority
• SI 1996/2919: Derbyshire Fire Authority
• SI 1996/2920: Dorset Fire Authority
• SI 1996/2921: County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority
• SI 1996/2922: East Sussex Fire Authority
• SI 1996/2923: Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority
• SI 1996/2924: Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2695: Royal Berkshire Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2696: Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2697: Cheshire Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2699: Essex Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2700: Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2701: Kent and Medway Towns Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2702: Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2760: Lancashire Combined Fire Authority
• SI 1997/2761: Nottinghamshire and city of Nottingham Fire Authority

In areas not covered by a combined authority, the fire and rescue authority is determined by section 1 of the 2004 Act:

• In England:
  • a non-metropolitan county council (England) is the fire and rescue authority for the county; (Cornwall, Cumbria, Gloucestershire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, Lincolnshire, Norfolk, Northamptonshire, Northumberland, Oxfordshire, Suffolk, Surrey, Warwickshire, West Sussex)
  • a non-metropolitan district council (England) for an area for which there is no county council is the fire and rescue authority for the area;
  • the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority is the fire and rescue authority for Greater London;
  • a metropolitan county fire and civil defence authority is the fire and rescue authority for the county;
  • the Council of the Isles of Scilly is the fire and rescue authority for the Isles of Scilly.
• In Wales:
  • a county council is the fire and rescue authority for the county;
  • a county borough council is the fire and rescue authority for the county borough.

All of these are subject to the Act by virtue of other entries in Schedule I.

Scotland

In Scotland, the arrangements for fire and rescue authorities are set out in the Fire (Scotland) Act 2005. As in England and Wales, the fire and rescue authorities are the local councils but combined fire and rescue boards can be created by order. The councils running their own fire and rescue service are:

• Dumfries and Galloway Council
• Fife Council

They are subject to FOISA by virtue of being Scottish councils.

The combined fire and rescue boards (all predating the 2005 Act, but treated by section 5 as having been created under it) are:

• Grampian Fire Board (established by SI 1995/2632)
• Highland and Islands Fire Board (established by SI 1995/2633)
• Lothian and Borders Fire Board (established by SI 1995/2634)
• Central Scotland Fire Board (established by SI 1995/2635)
• Strathclyde Fire Board (established by SI 1995/2636)
• Tayside Fire Board (established by SI 1995/2637)

These are subject to FOISA by virtue of being joint boards.

External resources

• http://www.frsonline.fire.gov.uk/partnership/article/43/199