Access to the water supply is by connection to a fire hydrant. Hydrants may be fitted by a water undertaker at the request of a fire and rescue authority. Clause 41(1) requires a water undertaker to mark the location of every fire hydrant with a notice or distinguishing mark and under subsection (2) the costs of doing this can be charged to the fire and rescue authority in whose area the hydrant is situated. This re-enacts provisions in section 14(3) of the Fire Services Act 1947. Should any negotiating body be set up under these powers, subsections (4) and (5) would prevent the body being undermined by negotiations being held in another forum. Subsections (5), (6), (7), (8), however, would allow the statutory body to make arrangements for some conditions of service to be negotiated locally either in their entirety or within nationally agreed parameters. Section 32 Guidance

This Section applies a power equivalent to section 230 of the Local Government Act 1972 to all fire and rescue authorities and not just those to which section 230 applies. The power could, for example, be used for collecting incident by incident information on primary fires (those involving property, rescues, casualties or fatalities), the number and location of fires and the number of fire-related casualties and fatalities. Section 26 InquiriesDirections as to reinforcement schemes gives the Secretary of State the power to direct the fire and rescue authorities involved to make, vary or revoke such a scheme. Before giving a direction, the Secretary of State will give all authorities concerned the opportunity to make representations to him and he may hold a public inquiry. Section 15 Arrangements with other employers of fire-fighters Prior to the second world war the fire service was run by local government and the responsibility delegated in most cases to the police. During the second world war the fire service was nationalised (NFS) and it was agreed on cessation of hostilities that the fire brigades would be returned to local authorities. In 1947 the Fire Services Act became law, making the fire service a department in its own right and provided a legal framework how fire service should be setup and administrated. The core function was to extinguishing fires and very little was included about the other functions of the fire service. The fire safety role was defined in subsection 1(1)(f) which states the fire service should provide fire prevention advice on request and with regards to the special services roll, it stated that fire brigade equipment could be used for other than firefighting purposes.

This clause re-enacts provisions in the Fire Services Act 1947 which enable the Secretary of State to prescribe the circumstances in which a fire and rescue authority or a Scottish fire authority may provide information to a person who has opted or transferred out of any pension scheme for fire-fighters. It also re-enacts the existing provisions about charging for administrative expenses. Section 35 Preservation of existing pension scheme Provides for the means by which a notice under clause 44 may be legally served. It is similar to service provisions under fire safety and health and safety law and will allow legal service by electronic means where the recipient agrees to this. It corresponds to provisions in the Communications Act 2003. False alarms Section 47 False alarms of fire As announced in the ‘Our Fire and Rescue Service’ White Paper, the Government believes that the time is now right to devolve responsibilities for fire and rescue authorities to the National Assembly for Wales. The Bill therefore devolves responsibility for the Service in Wales and has been drafted in liaison and agreement with officials from the National Assembly and the Wales Office. Other services provides a fire and rescue authority with the power to agree to the use of its equipment or personnel for any purpose it believes appropriate and wherever it so chooses. For example, a fire and rescue authority may agree to help pump out a pond as a service to its community. Assistance in discharge of functions Section 13 Reinforcement schemes

There are four key responsibilities for FRAs that they must ensure that they make provision for including: Fire fighting re-enacts the existing statutory duty for a fire and rescue authority to plan and provide arrangements for fighting fires and protecting life and property from fires within its area. A fire and rescue authority is required to secure sufficient equipment etc. and training to discharge its duty in normal circumstances. A fire and rescue authority must also put in place effective arrangements for receiving and responding to calls for help and for obtaining information to exercise its functions; the latter might include, for example, information about the nature and characteristics of buildings within the authority’s area or availability of and access to water supplies. Section 8 Road traffic accidents FRAs also need to collect information to assess risk in their areas as well as protect the health and safety of their workers. The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 also gives the Government responsibility for producing the Fire and Rescue National Framework which outlines the Government's high level priorities and objectives for FRAs in England. The National Framework's priorities for FRAs are to: Part 6 – Supplementary (Sections 43 to 53 and Schedules 1 and 2): concerns the powers of fire and rescue authority employees to undertake rescue work and investigations, as well as a number of consequential provisions and repeals, including the abolition of the Central Fire Brigades Advisory Council.