Fire Services Act 1947

3 Supplementary powers of fire authorities.

(1) The powers of a fire authority shall include power—

(a) to provide accommodation for the fire brigade for their area and its equipment, including housing and other accommodation for members of the brigade and furniture reasonably required for such accommodation ;

(b) to pay to persons, riot being members of a fire brigade maintained in pursuance of this Act, who render services for fire-fighting purposes such rewards as the authority think fit;

(c) to provide and maintain fire alarms in such positions in any street or public place as they think proper, and to affix any such fire alarm to any wall or fence adjoining a street or public place;

(d) to employ the fire brigade maintained by them, or use any equipment so maintained, outside their area;

(e) to employ the fire brigade maintained by them, or use any equipment so maintained, for purposes other than fire-fighting purposes for which it appears to the authority to be suitable and, if they think fit, to make such charge as they may determine for any services rendered in the course of such employment or use.

(2) Before exercising the powers conferred by paragraph (c) of the last foregoing subsection in relation to any trunk road a fire authority shall obtain the consent of the Minister of Transport, and before exercising those powers in relation to any road maintained by a highway authority, other than the Minister of Transport or the fire authority, they shall obtain the consent of the highway authority maintaining the road; and—

(a) without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this subsection the said powers shall not be exercised in a county district except after consultation with the council of the county district,

(b) the said powers shall not be exercised except after consultation with the chief officer of police for the area in which the fire alarms are to be placed,

(c) nothing in the said paragraph (c) shall affect any privilege conferred on the [32 & 33 Vict. c. 73.] Postmaster General by the Telegraph Act, 1869.

(3) Before making any standing arrangements for the exercise of the powers conferred by paragraph (e) of subsection (1) of this section, a fire authority shall obtain the approval of the Secretary of State to the proposed arrangements unless they have been approved by the Minister in charge of any other Government department.

(4) Save as expressly provided in this Act, a fire authority shall not make any charge for services rendered by the authority.

(5) A fire authority may be authorised by the Minister of Health to purchase compulsorily any land, whether situate within or without the area of the authority, which is required by them for the purposes of their functions under this Act, and the [9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 49.] Acquisition of Land (Authorisation Procedure) Act, 1946, shall apply as if this Act had been in force immediately before the commencement of that Act:

Provided that section two of that Act (which confers temporary powers for speedy acquisition of land in urgent cases) shall not apply to any compulsory purchase of land under this Act.