To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he will give details of any emergency duty system for firefighters that he has considered for use in the event of hostilities or a war emergency;(2) what advice he has issued to chief fire officers concerning wartime or emergency duty systems for firefighters; and if he will make a statement.

Guidance on wartime duty systems is contained in fire service circular 6/1984, paragraph 17. Detailed arrangements would be for the individual fire authorities to decide in the light of circumstances at the time. No such guidance has been given in relation to peacetime emergencies.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what are the criteria for determining the eligibility for civil defence grant aid of local authority emergency centre proposals.

Relevant statutory provisions are contained in the Civil Defence (General Local Authority

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those county and fire and civil defence authorities that had had message switch equipment installed in their emergency centres by 31 December 1988; and if he will list those county and fire and civil defence authorities that were expected to receive such equipment during the current year.

The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if he will list those district authorities that had had message switch equipment installed in their emergency centres by 31 December 1988: and if he will list those district authorities that were expected to receive such equipment during the current year.

The information requested is as follows:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the emergency planning communications handbook will be published; when the proposed circular on wartime communications will be published; when the guide to message writing being drafted by the ad hoc working party on emergency communications will be published; and if he will make a statement.

The emergency planning guidance handbook on communications and the guide to message writing are due to be published later this year.Consideration is being given to the need for a circular to update existing references to emergency communications provision and associated arrangements for grant aid. Any such circular is unlikely to be issued before next year.

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the written reply to the hon. Member for Don Valley (Mr. Redmond) of 7 December 1988, Official Report, columns 204–5, (1) how many of the 35 emergency planning officers and 10 administrative and support staff employed by district authorities are wholly funded by his Department's civil defence grant;(2) if he will list those district authorities which employ the 35 emergency planning officers and 10 administrative and support staff which are wholly or partly funded by Home Office civil defence grant.

The aggregate figures quoted in the earlier reply derive from the employment of 22 full-time emergency planning officers, four full-time administrative and support staff and a number of part time staff in each category. The full-time posts are wholly funded by civil defence grant.The districts which employ these staff are as follows: