FIRE PREVENTION .sx 13.1. Fire prevention activity is concerned not only with averting fire , but also with protecting people and property from the effects of fire .sx 13.2. Table 13 .sx i shows the number of fatalities , casualties and people rescued from fires attended by fire brigades for the calendar years 1985-1989 .sx table .sx 13.3. Table 13 .sx ii shows the estimated value of insured property lost in fires over the same period .sx table .sx 13.4. The Home Office administers the Fire Precautions Act 1971 , which requires ( among other things ) fire certificates to be obtained for larger offices , shops , factories and railway premises .sx New requirements for fire precautions in underground railway stations were introduced in 1989 by means of regulations made under this Act following the fire at King's Cross in November 1987 .sx 13.5. The Act is enforced by fire authorities .sx The Home Office issues guidance to fire authorities from time to time to assist them in enforcing the Act effectively and consistently .sx 13.6. The Home Office works with the fire insurance industry , through the Loss Prevention Council and the Fire Protection Association , to ensure a co-ordinated approach on fire prevention publicity and education .sx The Home Office has run television advertising campaigns in 1989-90 and 1990-91 to encourage the installation of domestic smoke alarms ( see chapter 21) .sx 13.7. The Home Office runs a fire research programme , expenditure on which was around pounds1 million in 1989-90 .sx This is aimed at ensuring that the latest scientific advice is available on fire prevention issues and on matters affecting the fire service's operational efficiency and the health of firefighters .sx EMERGENCY PLANNING .sx CIVIL EMERGENCIES .sx 14.1. Arrangements for the handling of civil emergencies in the UK have traditionally been a matter largely for local decision , with the emergency services generally being expected to provide the immediate response .sx An unprecedented number of major disasters in recent years has led to a reassessment of the effectiveness of this decentralised approach .sx In 1988 , the Home Secretary set up a review of current arrangements .sx The main conclusion of the review was that the immediate response to such emergencies should remain at the local level but that more should be done to encourage and develop co-ordination between local services .sx The review also concluded that better arrangements were needed at national level to oversee the development of a more co-ordinated approach to emergency planning and to address practical issues raised by recent disasters .sx 14.2. To help meet these objectives the Home Secretary appointed a Civil Emergencies Adviser ( Mr David Brook CB CBE) .sx His role is to ensure that local emergency planners work together in a way that best helps rescue efforts and that ensures best practice is identified , widely disseminated and acted upon .sx The Adviser , supported by a small secretariat within the Home Office , is currently putting together detailed guidance on the handling of peacetime disasters .sx This is based partly on information obtained during a programme of visits around the country to meet those involved in handling disasters .sx The cost of the Civil Emergencies Adviser and his staff is around pounds200,000 a year .sx 14.3. In support of these arrangements , the Emergency Planning College ( formerly the Civil Defence College ) has been given an additional objective :sx to study questions of peacetime emergency planning .sx Consultants have been appointed to consider how the best to carry this out .sx ( See also paragraph 14.8 below .sx ) .sx CIVIL DEFENCE .sx 14.4. The Government's policy is to secure a basic level of civil defence preparedness in peacetime which could be enhanced rapidly if the risk of war increased .sx Together with the Cabinet Office , the Home Office co-ordinates policy on civil defence .sx It is directly responsible for warning and monitoring arrangements and also for the monitoring and co-ordination of local authority civil defence activities ( see paragraph 14.10 below) .sx Table 14 .sx i shows Home office expenditure on civil defence .sx table .sx 14.5. The scale and extent of measures needed to implement the Government's policy depend crucially on the level and nature of the external threat .sx In October 1990 , the Home Secretary announced that he had initiated a review of the options for the future of civil defence arrangements in the light of developments in East-West relations .sx The outcome of this review , in conjunction with advice provided by the Civil Emergencies Adviser , will enable him to consider whether a more coherent approach to emergency planning for the protection of the public in both peace and war could be achieved .sx CENTRAL GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE ON CIVIL DEFENCE .sx 14.6. Table 14 .sx i sets out Home Office central government expenditure on civil defence , which covers central services and communications , as well as the cost of the Emergency Planning College and Warning and Monitoring Organisation .sx Most of the expenditure on central services goes on accommodation and capital costs for regional government headquarters in England and Wales , the reimbursement of police civil defence costs ( mainly in support of the Warning and Monitoring Organisation ) , research and development , and the maintenance and storage of radiation monitoring and emergency fire service equipment ( notably the so-called 'Green Goddesses') .sx Following a successful market testing exercise , which identified significant potential cost savings , the storage and maintenance of the emergency fire service stockpile is to be contracted out in spring 1991 .sx 14.7. The emergency communication network which links regional government headquarters with local authority emergency centres , police and fire services is being modernised with the objective of developing it into a fully automatic system by 1992-93 ( see Table ) .sx table .sx EMERGENCY PLANNING COLLEGE .sx 14.8. The Emergency Planning College's main purpose is to provide training in civil defence for central and local government , public services , the armed forces , the police , commerce and industry .sx Around 2,500 students are expected to attend formal courses and seminars there during 1990-91 .sx Figure 14 .sx i shows the backgrounds from which students are drawn .sx In 1988 , following an internal review , the Home Secretary decided that the College should adopt a greater analytical and developmental role in relation to civil defence policy and should concentrate on training senior staff .sx As Table 14 .sx iii shows , this change of emphasis has resulted in a fall in student numbers from a peak of around 3,000 in 1986-87 .sx The measures announced by the Home Secretary following his review of peacetime emergency arrangements ( see paragraph 14.1 above ) included a wider remit for the College to address questions of peacetime emergency .sx The extra non-tutorial work which this will involve is expected to lead to a further slight drop in student throughput over the period 1991-92 to 1993-94 .sx figure .sx UNITED KINGDOM WARNING AND MONITORING ORGANISATION ( UKWMO ) .sx 14.9. A Home Office review of the United Kingdom's warning and monitoring arrangements in 1987 and 1988 resulted in a number of detailed studies and technical scrutinies to establish the best way of modernising the existing system and automating the functions associated with monitoring .sx This work will now be taken forward within the wider context of the review of civil defence ( see paragraph 14.5 above) .sx LOCAL AUTHORITY EXPENDITURE ON CIVIL DEFENCE .sx 14.10. Local authorities are required by the Civil Defence ( General Local Authority Functions ) Regulations 1983 to :sx square prepare plans for wartime emergencies ; .sx square provide emergency centres and appropriate communications ; .sx square ensure that key staff are identified , trained and take part in exercises ; and .sx square recruit , train and exercise volunteer members of the public .sx To assist them in fulfilling their statutory responsibilities , they receive specific grant payments from the Home Office ( mainly at 100 per cent , but on some items at 75 per cent) .sx In 1986 , the Home Office introduced a planned programme for implementation ( PPI ) of the 1983 Regulations .sx This is a rolling programme , setting broad priorities and a series of targets for work activity as well as providing information to allow systematic monitoring by the Home Office .sx Priority was initially given to the development of detailed operational plans .sx However , in the fourth and fifth years of the programme ( 1989-90 and 1990-91 ) the emphasis shifted towards the validation and revision of plans , the training of key staff and the provision of emergency centres .sx The first two of these activities will remain the focus of effort in 1991-92 .sx The programme of construction of new emergency centres has been halted pending the outcome of the civil defence review , though the Home Office will continue to pay capital grant at the rate of 75 per cent and issue credit approvals ( loan sanction ) for centres already under construction .sx MONITORING OF PERFORMANCE .sx 14.11. Plans and facilities at national , regional and country level are regularly tested to establish the overall level of preparedness .sx The Home Office encourages local authorities to test the effectiveness of their plans and gives practical support in the planning , conduct and evaluation of regional exercises .sx During 1990 , exercises were held in the North East and London regions and reports setting out the lessons learned will be circulated to all local authorities .sx Within the Home Office , an assessment is made of individual local authorities' plans by comparing their coverage with a model outline framework and with operating details distilled from plans submitted under the PPI initiative .sx The latest information available shows that :sx square 77 per cent of authorities assessed have now produced a comprehensive plan framework with over 50 per cent of the operating details complete ; .sx square 18 per cent have a partially completed framework with between 10 and 50 per cent of the necessary operating details ; and .sx square 4.5 per cent have a partially completed framework with up to 10 per cent of the operating details .sx In the telecommunications field , progress in the programme of replacement and modernisation of the emergency communications network is measured by performance indicators based on the numbers and types of equipment installed .sx The effectiveness and efficiency of police civil defence activity is monitored by HM Inspectorate of Constabulary through the rolling 3-4 year programme of inspection of all provincial forces which began in July 1990 ( see paragraph ) .sx COMMUNITY SERVICES .sx 15.1. The Home Office Voluntary Services Unit ( VSU ) co-ordinates the Government's interests in the UK voluntary sector .sx Its main objectives are :sx square to promote voluntary activity and to support a cost-effective voluntary sector through grant - giving and other means ; .sx square to discharge Home Office responsibilities for charities and charity law ; and .sx square to co-ordinate effective arrangements for the reception and resettlement of refugees .sx table .sx The main grants paid by the Home Office are summarised in Table 15 .sx i. VOLUNTARY SECTOR GRANTS .sx 15.2. The VSU can make grants :sx square to national voluntary organisations whose work spans the interests of three or more Government Departments ; .sx square to support innovatory local projects ; and .sx square to assist ( with bridging grants on a 'last-resort' basis ) organisations working in areas of high social priority where alternative funds will be available within a short time .sx 15.3. The Women's Royal Voluntary Service ( WRVS ) has 170,000 members and provides a range of services to the community , including meals-on-wheels , and hospital and family welfare services .sx The grant to the WRVS covers the administrative costs of the organisation's headquarters and local offices network .sx 15.4. The National Council for Voluntary Organisations ( NCVO ) is the main umbrella body for voluntary organisations in England and the main channel of communication between the voluntary sector and Government .sx It provides information and advisory services to its members and to the voluntary sector as a whole .sx The Home Office's grant in aid is a contribution towards the organisation's core costs .sx 15.5. Of the other grants , the three main ones are the core grants to the Community Development Foundation ( CDF ) - pounds0 .sx 9 million in 1990-91 ; the Volunteer Centre ( UK ) - pounds0 .sx 7 million ; and Community Service Volunteers ( CSV ) - pounds0 .sx 6 million .sx CDF is a non-departmental public body which pioneers new forms of community development ; runs demonstration projects in conjunction with local authorities ; and disseminates best practice in community development .sx The Volunteer Centre ( UK ) promotes volunteering and advises voluntary bodies on best practice in the recruitment and use of volunteers .sx CSV recruits volunteers for a wide range of services in the community .sx 15.6 The report of the Efficiency Scrutiny of Government Funding of the Voluntary Sector , published in 1990 , recommended that VSU should develop a strategy which would relate its grant giving much more closely to its own policy objectives .sx VSU should in future concentrate its funding on work which supports the voluntary sector as a whole or promotes volunteering , community development or self-help .sx