368.Section 121 repeals sections 19(3) to (6) and 19(8) of the Fire Services Act 1947 (FSA 1947) and paragraph (a) of section 7(2) of the Fire Services Act 1959 (FSA 1959) in respect of England and Wales. It removes the requirement on a fire authority to provide information on its establishment scheme annually to the Secretary of State, and to obtain the Secretary of State’s approval before varying its establishment scheme by closing a fire station or reducing the number of fire appliances or firefighting posts. It also removes the Secretary of State’s powers in relation to the making of establishment schemes, and the powers to order public local inquiries for the purposes of his functions under section 19 Section 7(2)(a) of the FSA 1959 applies section 19 to combined fire authorities newly created by combination scheme orders made under sections 5 and 6 of the FSA 1947. Part 1 of Schedule 8 details the extent of the repeals in the FSA 1947 and the FSA 1959.
369.Section 19(3) of the FSA 1947 is unnecessary as fire authorities provide information on their establishments by a number of other means. The repeal of sections 19(4), (5) and (6) will leave decisions on an establishment scheme to be taken locally by the fire authority. The Secretary of State’s power under section 19(8) to hold a public local inquiry is also unnecessary; this power is retained under section 33(1) of the FSA 1947. (Section 19(1) and (2) of the FSA 1947 remain in force).
370.The repeal of section 19(3) to (6) and 19(8) of the FSA 1947 and section 7(2)(a) of the FSA 1959 is consistent with the approach on the removal of unnecessary requirements for consents set out in the Local Government White Paper “Strong Local Leadership – Quality Public Services” published in December 2001; and with the recommendation of the Independent Review of the Fire Service chaired by Professor Sir George Bain published in December 2002.