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Mrs. Browning: Will the Minister give way?
Mr. O'Brien: I have some points that I wish to make. I am sure that the hon. Lady would wish me to do that, and then if we have time left, I will happily give way to her. It is important that I make these points so that those in the fire and rescue service know the Government's position.
Devon and Cornwall constabulary will receive an allocation of Airwave grant of £4,755,000 in capital for 2001-02 and £2,470,000 in revenue. The spectrum, which is used by the fire service, will be withdrawn from its current use at the end of 2005, although some fire services, including Devon, may wish to make changes earlier than that date.
There are no plans to auction the use of those frequencies. They will be retained by the Home Office for other purposes. The Wireless Telegraphy Act 1998 provided a mechanism for promoting the efficient use of radio frequencies by introducing licence fees reflecting the commercial value of the spectrum. The charge for the fire service would increase from £197,000 to £746,000 a year. The new charging regime is being phased in over a five-year period from April 1999. The method of apportionment between brigades was agreed with fire service representatives. The increase in costs was one of the funding pressures identified and taken into account in the comprehensive spending review.
The challenge for the fire service is to secure benefits that are similar to those of the police in their method of procurement. The hon. Lady referred to the urgency of the matter. That is why we have asked, this year, for all fire authorities in England and Wales to undertake best value reviews of their future communications and control
arrangements. Given the statutory responsibilities of local fire authorities, both for the efficiency of their brigades and for securing best value, it would be quite wrong to set aside the local consideration. However, a sensible outcome will, I believe, depend on local decisions being made and local government being willing to work with central Government to secure systems that will meet certain key criteria. In particular, radio bearer systems procured by fire authorities must meet the service's national operational requirements for voice communications and status and data message transfer. They must support effective interworking between neighbouring brigades. They must, as Airwave would, provide an effective and continuing interface with communications systems of other emergency services.These are national requirements; so is the need to secure value for money. There will have to be competition, but it would be nonsense if each fire authority mounted its own competition for a replacement radio bearer system. The waste in administrative effort, the loss of economies of scale and the unreasonable requirement on suppliers to interface with a large number of different systems would be unacceptable.
If fire authorities want to control the process, I want them to be able to demonstrate a real commitment to collaborative procurement in order to deliver an outcome that makes sense both locally in Devon and nationally across the country.
Mrs. Browning: The Minister said that fire authorities may, if they wish, change their radio communication systems earlier than 2005. Will he take on board that for Devon, that is not an optional extra? The fire service has been required by the police, whose facilities it shares at present, to end its contract with them by the end of 2002.
Mr. O'Brien: I had hoped to reply at greater length about the issues relating to the radio communication system, but we are obviously very pressed for time. I will soon be meeting Local Government Association representatives and others. We are ready and willing to--
The motion having been made after Ten o'clock, and the debate having continued for half an hour, Madam Deputy Speaker adjourned the House without Question put, pursuant to the Standing Order.
- Adjourned accordingly at One o'clock.
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