To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether, following the Merseyside fire risk review of 1990, he has given the Merseyside fire and civil defence authority permission to vary the approved establishment scheme; what assessment he has made of whether the Home Office minimum standards of fire cover can be met by the Merseyside fire authority; and if he will make a statement.

No proposals have so far been submitted by the Merseyside fire and civil defence authority. Any which entailed the closure of fire stations or reduction in the number of operational firefighters or appliances would require our approval to ensure that nationally recommended minimum standards of fire cover continued to be met.