Fire authority

In England and Wales a fire authority or fire and rescue authority is a statutory body made up of a committee of local councillors which oversees the policy and service delivery of a fire and rescue service. Prior to the Fire Services Act 2004 many fire and rescue authorities were known as fire and civil defence authorities; this designation is no longer used.

Constitution

A fire authority is made up of either councillors, officers or representatives from the local principal councils in the geographical area that the fire service operates. In the case of the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority, there is an additional layer of governance above in the form of the London Assembly.

The responsible central government department in England and Wales is the Department for Communities and Local Government.

Role of a fire authority

In simple terms a local fire authority is a supervisory body which ensures that a local fire service performs efficiently and in the best interest of the public and community it serves. It means therefore that the fire service is answerable for its actions and performance to the general public. One of its main functions is to collect funding from each local council via a precept - a portion of council tax allocated to the FRS.