Fire Authority to decide on proposals to meet Government grant reduction
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority members will consider a consultation report and vote on proposals to meet a significant Government grant reduction, on 10 July at the Service Headquarters in Exeter.
The Service is looking at managing significant on-going budget cuts, now anticipated to be around £8m by 2015, following the Spending Review announcement last week.
Proposals aimed at providing an affordable and effective service, without removing fire stations, fire engines or making compulsory redundancies, were developed for public consultation earlier this year. The consultation closed in April.
Proposals included:
- Increasing the Service’s work in the community to prevent fires
- Changing the way some fire engines are crewed, by providing 24 hour emergency response with ‘on- call’ Firefighters
The Service is also reducing support staff numbers and this year alone plans to reduce numbers by around 40 posts (13% of the total) through a combination of deleting vacancies, ending some fixed term contracts and voluntary redundancy.
In addition, senior posts have also been reduced. From 2010, the Chief Fire Officer has reduced the Senior Management Board from nine Directors to four.
Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell said:
“The savings we need to make are significant, and following the Spending Review announcement last week and Sir Ken Knight’s review of efficiencies in Fire and Rescue Services, we are clearer about the level of further reductions in the near future. We have made savings already by looking at how we do things more efficiently as an organisation. We don’t have the option of staying as we are - we need to make changes in order to maintain a sustainable and effective service to the community.
“The proposals being considered do not require closure of fire stations, removal of fire engines or at this stage compulsory redundancies. We do however need to live within our means and whilst I would rather not be taking out this amount of money from the Service, in reality we don’t have any control over the funding allocated to us by Government. I, and the Chairman, will continue to lobby Government to ensure a fairer settlement for the future but we have to face the reality of today.”
The meeting will be held on 10 July 2013 from 10am at the Service Headquarters in Clyst St. George, Exeter, and is open to the press and public. The meeting agenda and papers, including the consultation report, can be found on the website; www.dsfire.gov.uk.
