One of the biggest problems facing the community today is arson - especially in schools. The Arson Prevention Bureau's 1999 Annual Report claims arson is now causing £4 million of damage every day. According to insurers Zurich Municipal, fires losses in school buildings during 2002 inflicted damage costing over £90 million. Much of that sum can be attributed to deliberate fire-setting.

These are dauntingly large sums of money but remain an incomplete assessment of the real damage. How can one quantify the costs of alternative childcare arrangements, disrupted education, and wider damage to community life when a school is burned down? Arson is a political and social as well as a financial problem. It requires a creative bundle of measures to minimise the damage caused.

When FSDG responded to the Home Office Arson Consultation Paper - "Safer Communities: towards effective arson control", we endorsed measures to counsel young fire setters out of their anti-social behaviour. But we believe there is a group of determined arsonists who will continue to inflict damage by torching schools and therefore support joint police, firefighter and insurance industry actions to create a more co-ordinated response to the problem.

Such measures were forcefully expressed at the Arson Prevention Bureau's 1999 Conference entitled: "Arson Investigation: From Virtuality to Reality". We also hope the Government will proceed with a Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order to overhaul and consolidate existing fragmented legislation.

Meanwhile steps must be taken to reduce current high losses. The simple step of securing rubbish bins away from school buildings would in itself be an effective counter measure but in the longer term proper protection needs to be built into the basic structure of school premises. By dividing rooms and roof spaces more professionally, fire spread and toxic smoke can be easily reduced, thus allowing more time not only for evacuation but also for the fire brigade to control a blaze.

We must accept that, however unpleasant it may be, arson in schools will be a continuing problem. A realistic approach includes both fire education and fire protection. Please email secretariat@fsdg.org.uk for more detailed information.