Citation, commencement and application

1.—(1) This Order may be cited as the Fire and Rescue Services (Emergencies) (England) Order 2007 and shall come into force on 6th April 2007.

(2) This Order applies in relation to fire and rescue authorities in England only.

Chemical, biological, radiological, or nuclear emergency

2.—(1) A fire and rescue authority must make provision in its area for the purposes of—

(a)removing chemical, biological, or radio-active contaminants from people in the event of an emergency(2) involving the release or potential release of such contaminants; and

(b)containing, for a reasonable period, any water used for a purpose mentioned in sub-paragraph (a).

(2) In taking action for a purpose mentioned in paragraph (1) a fire and rescue authority must make arrangements for ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to prevent or limit serious harm to the environment.

Rescue and protection in case of certain emergencies

3.—(1) A fire and rescue authority must make provision in its area for the purpose of rescuing people who may be trapped and protecting them from serious harm, to the extent that it considers it reasonable to do so, in the event of—

(a)an emergency involving the collapse of a building or other structure; or

(b)subject to paragraph (2), an emergency falling within section 58(a) of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 which—

(i)involves a train, tram, or aircraft, and

(ii)is likely to require a fire and rescue authority to use its resources beyond the scope of its day to day operations.

(2) Paragraph (1)(b) does not apply to provision for an emergency to the extent that it involves the collapse of a tunnel or mine.

(3) In this article—

(a)“structure” does not include a tunnel or mine;

(b)“tunnel” means a man-made passage; and

(c)“mine” means a mine within the meaning of section 180 of the Mines and Quarries Act 1954(3).

Action required for purpose of functions conferred by Order

4.  In making the provision required by article 2 or 3, a fire and rescue authority must—

(a)secure the provision of such personnel, services and training as may be necessary efficiently to meet all reasonable requirements;

(b)make arrangements for dealing with calls for help;

(c)make arrangements for obtaining necessary information; and

(d)make arrangements for ensuring that reasonable steps are taken to prevent or limit damage to property resulting from action taken pursuant to such provision.

Responding to emergencies outside a fire and rescue authority’s area

5.—(1) This paragraph applies where—

(a)a fire and rescue authority maintains specialist resources (“the first authority”);

(b)an emergency of a type specified in article 2 or 3 has occurred or is likely to occur in the area of another fire and rescue authority (“the second authority”); and

(c)the second authority has requested the first authority to use those resources in the second authority’s area.

(2) Where paragraph (1) applies, the first authority must use its specialist resources in the area of the second authority to such extent as is reasonable for the purpose of dealing with the emergency.

(3) In this article, “specialist resources” means resources maintained for the purpose of taking action pursuant to provision made in accordance with article 2 or 3 including any personnel who have received specialist training for that purpose.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Order)

The core functions of fire and rescue authorities are set out in sections 6 to 8 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (the Act). These are functions in connection with fire safety, fire-fighting and road traffic accidents. Section 9 allows the Secretary of State to specify by order other core functions relating to emergencies for which fire and rescue authorities must make provision. Emergencies are defined in section 58 of the Act.

This Order specifies functions in connection with the emergencies described in articles 2 and 3.

Article 2 is concerned with emergencies involving chemical, biological, or radio-active contaminants.

Article 3 is concerned with emergencies involving a structural collapse or a train, tram or aircraft (“transport emergencies”), but does not apply in relation to transport emergencies unless the incident is likely to require a fire and rescue authority to use resources beyond the scope of its normal day to day operations. Authorities are not required to make provision for dealing with emergencies to which this article relates to the extent that they involve the collapse of a tunnel or mine.

Article 4 specifies the things that fire and rescue authorities must do in making provision for emergencies of the descriptions in articles 2 and 3.

Where a fire and rescue authority has specialist resources, including specialist trained personnel, to enable it to deal with emergencies of a kind described in this Order, and such an emergency occurs or is likely to occur in the area of another authority, article 5 requires the authority with the specialist resources, if asked to do so, to use those resources in that other authority’s area so far as is reasonable for the purpose of dealing with the emergency.

A full regulatory impact assessment of the effect that this instrument will have on the costs of business and the voluntary sector is available on the website of the Department for Communities and Local Government at www.communities.gov.uk and is annexed to the Explanatory Memorandum which is available alongside the instrument on the OPSI website.