[
The Fire Brigades Union branded as “foolish and dangerous” a report which suggests that the fire and rescue service in England could save as much as GB pound 200 million a year – without threatening the safety of firefighters or the public.
The Audit Commission report released today claims that if all fire and rescue service followed the examples of pioneers such as Merseyside and Greater Manchester, 10% of the GB pound 2 billion budget in England could be saved. It says savings have been made by changing shift patterns in line with demand, or cutting the number of staff on duty when fires are least likely. The Commission suggests further savings could be made by using cheaper, smaller appliances, reducing false alarms, cutting days lost through sickness and working more closely with neighbouring fire services, councils, police forces and other local bodies.
Five fire services have made savings to the tune of 15% of their total spending but at the other end of the scale, 10 of them have struggled to find savings of even 5%.
“There is no doubt that firefighters do a great job, but the best services have shown they can respond to incidents more efficiently without jeopardising safety,” said Michael O’Higgins, chairman of the Audit Commission. “The rest must follow their example. There have been repeated calls for improvement over the last 40 years, but progress has been patchy. In today’s financial climate the fire service, like the rest of the public sector, must rise to the efficiency challenge.”
But the Fire Brigades Union said the proposals will compromise safety for firefighters and the public. General secretary Matt Wrack said: “The fire service is a well performing public service which is held in high esteem. These foolish and dangerous proposals will damage that hard-won reputation. It is clearly written by people with no knowledge whatsoever of firefighting and the fire service, whose only interest is in finding ways to pennypinch on public safety.”
Responding to the suggestion of using smaller, cheaper appliances, he said that while using them may save money, it would also risks lives by having to fight some fires without the proper equipment or enough water.
For its part, the Chief Fire Officers Association had a mixed response to the report. While it welcomed the recognition of the “huge progress” made by the fire and rescue service in terms of coping with change and improving performance, it believes there is insufficient recognition of the growth in the work of the service – especially on fire prevention and responding to terrorism and flooding.
“The service sits at the heart of civil protection in the UK and is crucial to national as well as local emergency preparedness,” CFOA said. “Very careful consideration needs to be given to how much further funding can be constrained before performance begins to suffer irreparably.”
The government welcomed the report saying it acknowledges the rapid change and overall improvement on the part of the fire and rescue service in England. But it agreed with the Audit Commission that there is more to be done to deliver greater efficiency.
Audit Commission – Full report
2023 Fire Safety eBook – Grab your free copy!
Download the Fire Safety in 2023 eBook, keeping you up to date with the biggest news and prosecution stories from around the industry. Chapters include important updates such as the Fire Safety (England) Regulations 2022 and an overview of the new British Standard for the digital management of fire safety information.
Plus, we explore the growing risks of lithium-ion battery fires and hear from experts in disability evacuation and social housing.
