FUNDING FOR FIRE SERVICES

That this House is aware that in recent independent polls carried out in the UK which enquired into what the public thought about its fire services, 93 per cent. believed they provided a good or very good service, 82 per cent. were satisfied or very satisfied with their local fire and rescue service, 85 per cent. opposed plans to cut funding for such services and 95 per cent. opposed any reduction in the number of firefighters; recalls that in the year to March 2010 a total of 7,098 people were rescued from fires in the UK; believes that any further cuts will lead to slower response times to emergency incidents, put the safety of the public and firefighters at risk and will lead to increased fire losses which in turn will destroy jobs and damage economies; and calls on the Government to desist from carrying out cuts to these necessary services which the general public overwhelmingly supports.