Minister urges communities to work together to beat arson blight
Speaking at the second national conference of the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister -sponsored Arson Control Forum, Jim Fitzpatrick, the recently appointed Parliamentary Under Secretary of State with responsibility for fire and rescue - himself a former firefighter - said the fight against deliberate fire-setting was part of the Government's drive to create better and safer communities in which to live and work:
Arson is behind more than half of all the primary fires in the UK today causing 100 needless deaths and 2,500 injuries a year. Motives range from revenge, fraud, and crime concealment to simple vandalism and fire-play.
Poorest communities are hardest hit, with those on low incomes 31 times more likely to be affected by deliberate fire-setting and sixteen times more likely to die as a result of such a fire.
Said Mr Fitzpatrick:
"We want to change that and make sure that no one is at greater risk because of where they live. That is why two years ago we began a series of wide-ranging reforms to the Fire And Rescue Service which are now having an impact on fire safety and arson prevention. And we have introduced legislation in other areas so we can tackle the issues in a co-ordinated and effective way."
Mr Fitzpatrick, who co-incidentally, was speaking on the first day of Child Safety Week, added that the fight against arson was firmly linked to the Government's overall strategy of combating anti-social behaviour, especially amongst young people.
The majority of arson attacks appear to be committed by a small group of prolific offenders, many of whom are under 18 and also commit other offences.
Fire and rescue services across the country already undertake some youth intervention work targeted at children with an excessive interest in fire-play or adolescents whose fire-setting behaviour is linked to other forms of anti-social behaviour such as vandalism.
His speech together with briefing on the conference and including the latest Arson Control Forum research reports is available at www.odpm.gov.uk
NB Sources: all figures quoted are either from data supplied by the Association of British Insurers or ODPM research report "Economic Cost of Fire 2005".
Arson facts and figures
-The overall annual cost of fire in England and Wales is around £7.7 billion. Of this, arson accounts for £2.8 billion.
-Fire can severely disrupt the local economy - three quarters of firms suffering a significant fire will be out of business within the year.
- More than 50,000 children every year have their education disrupted by a school fire ? many of them started deliberately.
What is the Government doing to help?
-The ODPM-led Arson Control Forum was set up in April 2001 to provide a strategic programme of arson prevention through multi-agency co-operation.
-The Forum is chaired by a representative of the Association of Chief Police Officers and has two Vice Chairs representing the Chief Fire Officer's Association and the Association of British Insurers.
-The Implementation Fund was launched in August 2003 and Ministers agreed to fund or part-fund 66 projects totalling £9.3 million between April 2003 and March 2006. This funding has helped to establish 29 Arson Task Forces (small local multi-agency groups dedicated to arson reduction, usually including the police fire and rescue services and local authorities), 28 cars clear schemes and nine other local arson reduction projects.
-Latest figures to September 2004: total number of deliberate primary fires fell to 81,100, down 18% compared with the previous year.
-Tough Targets - 10% reduction in deliberate fires by 31st March 2010 from the 2001/02 baseline - from 104,500 fires to 94,000 fires
-Last year the Forum set new priorities, focusing on some of the complex issues behind deliberate fire setting involving children and young people and neighbourhood renewal.
-Intervention work with young fire setters also has clear links with the Government's strategy for dealing with Prolific and other Priority Offenders.
-Modernisation agenda will help, building a modern, effective fire and rescue service focussed on prevention, saving lives and improved detection rates - more than half of all fire fatalities occur before the fire and rescue services are called out
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Published 20 June 2005
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