England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

a fire authority or fire and rescue authority is a

statutory A statute is a formal written enactment of a legislative authority that governs the legal entities of a city, state, or country by way of consent. Typically, statutes command or prohibit something, or declare policy. Statutes are rules made by le ...

body made up of a committee of local councillors which oversees the policy and service delivery of a

fire and rescue service A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

.Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, Part One (accessed 19 Feb 07)
/ref> Prior to the Fire Services Act 2004 many fire and rescue authorities were known as fire and civil defence authorities; this designation is no longer used. A combined fire authority (CFA) is one created by a

statutory instrument In many countries, a statutory instrument is a form of delegated legislation. United Kingdom Statutory instruments are the principal form of delegated or secondary legislation in the United Kingdom. National government Statutory instrument ...

to cover more than one

local authority Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-loca ...

area. Usually each of the constituent local authorities appoints a fixed number of members of the CFA, depending on their relative populations.

Constitution

A fire authority is made up of either councillors, officers or representatives from the local principal councils in the geographical area that the fire service operates. In the case of the

London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority The London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA) was a functional body of the Greater London Authority (GLA), established under the Greater London Authority Act 1999. Its principal purpose was to run the London Fire Brigade. The 17 membe ...

, there is an additional layer of governance above in the form of the

London Assembly The London Assembly is a 25-member elected body, part of the Greater London Authority, that scrutinises the activities of the Mayor of London and has the power, with a two-thirds super-majority, to amend the Mayor's annual budget and to reject ...

. The responsible central government department in England is the Home Office, previously the

Department for Communities and Local Government The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), formerly the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for housing, communities, local government ...

had responsibility until January 5, 2016. Responsibility for Fire and Rescue Services in Wales is devolved to the Welsh Government.

Role of a fire authority

In simple terms a local fire authority is a supervisory body which ensures that a local fire service performs efficiently and in the best interest of the public and community it serves. It means therefore that the fire service is answerable for its actions and performance to the general public. One of its main functions is to collect funding from each local council via a ''precept'' - a portion of council tax allocated to the FRS.

Powers of a fire authority

Although a fire safety officer is an employee of the fire service and is authorised and answerable to the

Chief Fire Officer Chief fire officer (CFO), formerly often just chief officer, is the highest rank in the fire and rescue services of the United Kingdom. There are currently 50 chief fire officers serving in the United Kingdom in charge of the local authority fire ...

to exercise powers of inspection, any enforcement or prosecution action taken against organisations by the fire service is brought in the name of the fire authority, under the

Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 (officially listed as ''The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005 S.I. 2005 No. 1541'') is a statutory instrument applicable in England and Wales. The Order places the responsibility on individual ...

. The fire service's powers of entry and other operational roles are defined by the

Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 (c 21), sometimes abbreviated as FRSA 2004, is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. It came into effect on 1 October 2004. It only applies to Great Britain and most provisions apply only in Engl ...

This act provides the legal basis for fire authorities to carry out community rather than legislative fire safety functions. There are many specific acts of parliament which deal with fire safety, inspection and enforcement; in October 2006 (later than anticipated), many outdated acts were repealed, and placed under the umbrella of the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.Statutory Instrument 2005 No. 1541, The Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, Pub: The Stationery Office, Crown copyright (accessed 15 Feb 07)
/ref> * ''Comprehensive list of recent UK fire and rescue service legislation:'

* Fire service in the UK#Fire service funding, More detailed information on fire authority funding

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fire Authority Fire and rescue in the United Kingdom Firefighting Local government services in the United Kingdom England and Wales

Constitution

Role of a fire authority

Powers of a fire authority

See also

References