Fire service cuts threaten safety programmes, says LGA

11 Mar 13
Fire safety programmes across England are likely to be reduced over the next five years as government cuts bite, the Local Government Association warned today.

By Richard Johnstone | 12 March 2013

Fire safety programmes across England are likely to be reduced over the next five years as government cuts bite, the Local Government Association warned today.

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An analysis of funding for fire and rescue services, published to coincide with the LGA’s annual fire conference in Brighton, found that spending would fall by £300m – from £1bn in 2011/12 to £700m in 2017/18.

As fire authorities have to balance their budgets they would, by 2017/18, have around 30% less to spend compared with 2011/12, according to Fire future funding report. This would be equivalent to a reduction of almost 40% of the workforce.

At the same time, the cost of demand for fire services is expected to rise from £2.1bn in 2011/12 to £2.4bn in 2017/18.

Community prevention schemes were likely to suffer as a result of the £600m funding gap, the report warned, with less money available for smoke alarm tests and other safety measures.

According to the research, cuts had already started to bite, with fire brigades reporting a 7% drop in the number of home fire safety checks carried out in 2011/12, compared with the previous year.

The LGA highlighted that, as the amount spent on prevention work had increased over the last decade, the number of fires and fatalities had fallen significantly. Youth education programmes, for example, are estimated to achieve savings of £1.85 for every £1 spent by helping to reduce the number of fires started deliberately.

Kay Hammond, chair of the LGA’s fire services management committee, said authorities faced ‘hard choices’.

She added: ‘On the one hand, they are faced with unprecedented cuts to their budgets, while on the other they continue to have a duty to provide the same level of fire protection to their communities as they always have.’

Fire authorities were already initiating reforms in order to manage the decline in funding, such as sharing services or merging forces, she said. But this would not be enough to sustain current provision in the future.

‘It’s clear that something has to give and the area that is most at risk is activity such as community safety schemes. The irony is that this comes at a time when the demographics of our country are changing, with people living longer and the number of elderly and vulnerable people rising.’


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