About the Arson Control Forum

The aims of the Forum are to:

raise public awareness of arson prevention and investigation issues;
reduce number of deliberate fires and related deaths, injuries and damage;
maintain strategic overview of all arson prevention and investigation matters;
develop, monitor and support initiatives improving arson prevention and detection;
promote partnership and co-ordinate efforts amongst stakeholders to develop better policy on arson prevention and investigation;
monitor and contribute to improvements in recording and detection of arson in UK;
monitor and contribute to arson prevention and investigation work conducted by European and International bodies.

Arson Control Forum Members

The Arson Control Forum is led by Communities and Local Government and includes key stakeholders:

the Fire and Rescue and Police services
insurance companies and associations;
the Home Office and other Government Departments;
the Confederation of British Industry;
local authorities;
the Fire Brigades' Union and other trade unions or staff associations.

Arson Control Forum Targets

Using 2001-2002 as a baseline year, the Forum is implementing a work programme to help meet the following Government target on reducing arson:

reduce by 10 per cent the number of deliberate fires by 31 March 2010, from 111,500 to 100,300 fires.

Latest Statistics

In the 12 months to December 2005, there were 66,000 deliberate primary fires in England, a 14 per cent reduction from the previous year. Deliberate vehicle fires fell by 14 per cent to 40,100, and the number of school fires started deliberately fell by 29 per cent to 482.

Achievements

The Arson Control Forum has:

invested £2.25 million in local arson reduction initiatives during 2001-2003;
funded or part-funded 66 local initiatives to address arson, amounting to just under £0.9m in 2003/04; rising to just over £4.3m in 2004/05 and £4.1m in 2005/06;
allocated a total of £3.3m to 29 car clearance schemes and a total of £4.6m to 24 arson task forces from 2003 to 2006. About £1.5m is being set aside to fund other more innovative solutions, in addition to existing funding commitments totalling just under £1m in 2003/04;
held three good practice conference son 13 May 2004, 20 June 3005 and 26 June 2006, each attended by 250 delegates;
issued improved interim guidance on fire investigation (Fire service circular no. 21/2000);
helped produce an Arson Toolkit as part of the Home Office Crime Reduction Programme;
published guidance on:
- juvenile firesetter intervention schemes;
- derelict cars;
- derelict or void buildings;
- refuse and fly-tipped rubbish;
- how to set up an arson task force.
commissioned research into:
- the motivation of arsonists;
- the links between car arson, abandoned vehicles and other vehicle crime;
- why arson prosecutions "fail"
- the Forum's New Projects Initiative;
- social exclusion and the risk of fire.

The arson problem

Arson is a serious crime which causes deaths, injuries and damage to property. It is the largest single cause of major fires in the UK and costs England and Wales £2.8 billion annually.

It carries a maximum punishment of a life sentence.

Research reveals a wide variety of causes of arson, including:

concealing evidence of criminal activity (eg car theft);
illegally disposing of old cars;
insurance fraud;
mental health or psychological problems;
revenge;
youth disorder (eg vandalism).

In the last decade there have been over 900 fatalities and 25,000 injuries as a result of deliberate fires in England. Over half of fatalities and two-thirds of non-fatal casualties occur in deliberate dwelling fires.

In 2003/04 in England and Wales:

57,200 fires were recorded by police forces as arson crimes;
4,800 arson cases (8 per cent of the total) resulted in suspects being identified and subsequently cautioned, charged or summonsed to court;
747 individuals were sentenced in Magistrates' Courts, two-thirds of whom were under 18, compared with 721 sentenced in the Crown Court, 11 per cent of whom were under 18.