The Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004 sets out the responsibilities of Fire and Rescue Authorities (FRAs).
There are four key responsibilities for FRAs that they must ensure that they make provision for including:
- extinguishing fires in their area
- protecting life and property in the event of fires in their area
- rescuing and protecting people in the event of a road traffic collision, and
- rescuing and protecting people in the event of other emergencies.
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:
- identify and assess the full range of foreseeable fire and rescue related risks their areas face, make provision for prevention and protection activities and respond to incidents appropriately
- work in partnership with their communities and a wide range of partners locally and nationally to deliver their service
- be accountable to communities for the service they provide
The Civil Contingencies Act 2004 sets out FRAs responsibility to react to emergencies as a category 1 responder.