| AccessConditions | The records of the Fire Brigade Sub-Committee, later Finance and Fire Brigade Sub-Committee, later Fire Brigade Sub-Committee, are closed for 50 years in line with the blanket closure period established for sub-committee minutes. In some instances, the minutes have been bound with the main Watch Committee record or with other sub-committee records that contain more sensitive personal data relating to police officers and offenders (including minors), in which case the records have been closed for the longer period of 100 years in compliance with the Data Protection Act, 1998. |
| AdminHistory | The Fire Brigade Sub-Committee was formed in February 1879, after the Fire Brigade became a separate department from the Police, with a Chief Fire Officer. The committee was formed following public criticism of the police after a serious fire at Digbeth. The sub-committee originally consisted of four members, and was appointed to find a temporary fire station, which was at Cannon Street, and a Fire Superintendent.
The sub-committee then took over functions such as staffing, premises, equipments and procedures. In November 1884, the sub-committee became the Finance and Fire Brigade Sub-Committee, as the Finance Sub-Committee was merged with it. Its functions now included dealing with the accounts, payments, estimated income and expenditure (including license fees) for the whole of the Watch Committee, although no minutes actually survive.
The newly merged sub-committee remained operational until November 1935, when it returned to being the Fire Brigade Sub-Committee. In November 1940, the Fire Brigade Sub-Committee formed the basis for the new Fire Brigade Committee (see BCC/1/CO). A Royal Commission of Fire Brigades Sub-Sub-Committee was also appointed briefly by the main sub-committee in January 1921 to consider the implication of the work of the commissioners in Birmingham (see BCC/1/AC/8/1/1). |