asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fatal casualties resulted from fires which occurred in residential houses on Merseyside and how many for which figures are available were non-fatal.

13 fatal and 220 non-fatal casualties were recorded as resulting from fires in dwellings in Merseyside in 1977 which were attended by local authority fire brigades or by Armed Services personnel during the fire service strike. Figures for 1978 are not yet available.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many of the fires which occurred in residential houses on Merseyside in 1978, for which figures are available, were in council houses or in houses in the ownership of housing associations or other public bodies.

The information requested is not collected centrally.

asked the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many fires occurred in residential houses on Merseyside in the last year for which figures are available; and, of these, how many were flats and maisonettes.

2,226 fires in dwellings in Merseyside in 1977 were recorded as attended by local authority fire brigades—or by Armed Services personnel during the fire service strike. I shall publish in the Official Report as soon as possible the separate figures for flats and maisonettes. Figures for 1978 are not yet available.