13 April 2011
Fire and rescue services have been distracted from their work by ‘the previous government’s management from the centre’, fire minister Bob Neill has said in his response to a review of the service.
The Fire Futures review, which reported in December, allowed bodies in the sector to propose reforms to ministers.
Neill rejected a string of ideas he said were not consistent with localism, including a national reorganisation to combine fire, rescue and ambulance services.
He said service delivery decisions should be made locally, and that national targets and monitoring had become ‘a thing of the past’.
He added: ‘Ending the culture of top-down Whitehall management of the fire and rescue service and restoring a focus on communities and local accountability rather than targets is at the heart of the government’s approach.’
‘We will help “barrier bust” where fire and rescue authorities find unnecessary restrictions are stopping them from getting on with things that clearly make sense.’
Neill’s response promised fire and rescue services ‘complete freedom to develop the tools to deliver against [locally agreed] expectations and to demonstrate to their communities that they are doing so’.
Funding mechanisms will be considered as part of the local government resource review, but the government has said it would encourage shared services and amalgamations between authorities.
