Fire Service Conservative Impact



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Key Fire Service Duties

 * Responding to fires
 * Responding to road traffic accidents
 * Responding to other emergencies as applicable
 * Contributing to national resilience (collectively being able to respond to up to 4 simultaneous national-level emergencies)
 * Undertaking preventative activities to reduce the risk of fire
 * Carrying out safety inspections of business premises

Spending Cuts Overview
It is worth knowing the true figures for Fire Service cuts before quoting figures. As a socialist movement it is important that we are clear about the facts, so that we don’t fall into the trap of the right-wing media of exagerating figures to meet our own political aims. Not that the cuts don’t speak for themselves. This page identifies the cuts made and the negative impact they are having on the ability of the Fire Service to carry out its duties.

National Audit Office report 2015
The last full National Audit Report (NAO report) was carried out in 2015 (Released November 2015). It is a useful report and forms much of the basis for analysis on this page from 2010 until its release in 2015.

The report “Impact of funding reductions on fire and rescue services” as the name suggests looks at the reduction of central funding to the service and the impact. As can be expected from such a report, it ignores the moral questions that the reduction of funding.

Further to the NAO report, this page then follows up on the further funding cuts since 2015 and the impact these cuts have had on the service.

Cuts made 2010 to 2015
There are two types of Fire Authorities. For the purpose of this page it often simply uses the figures from one type of authority and relies on the NAO report averages. This does not undermine the figures, but rather gives an overall picture. Different authorities have suffered to different extents. This is dependant on whether they received the bulk on their funding locally or received a greater percentage from government. Those that received the higher percentage of funding from government have suffered the greatest impact. Local funding had held fairly steady at the time of the 2015 audit.



County and unitary authorities with fire and rescue services saw an average reduction in government funding of 31.3%. However, it is not possible to isolate the amount of government funding passed through these councils to their fire and rescue service. This figure therefore represents the funding envelope in which the fire and rescue budget was negotiated locally, rather than the precise budget for the service.

This ranged from a reduction of 35.4% to 20.5%. Within this group metropolitan fire authorities saw a reduction of 33.9%, compared to 25.9% for combined Authorities. In comparison, government funding for single tier and county councils fell by 40.2%. It is estimated by NAO that government funding for LFEPA fell by 20.2%.

There had been in the period 2010-15 little or no reduction in Council tax income for the Fire Service, which had remained relatively stable. The reduction in spending power was almost solely due to the reduction in government funding.

Those authorities hardest hit by the cuts were those that relied most heavily on government spending (grant dependant). Paradoxically Grant-dependent areas tend to be those with higher levels of need. It defines need in terms of levels of risk associated with particular populations or industrial facilities, as well as the differing costs of providing services in different areas. Fire authorities assessed as having higher levels of need tend to have seen larger reductions in spending power since 2010-11

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Change in spending power by component 2010-11 to 2015-16 for stand-alone fire and rescue authorities, where the major reduction in spending is due to reduced government spending. The government has reduced spending, on average, by 30%, but as council tax spending has remained stable, this means the average reduction in spend is 19% for stand-alone authorities.

There have been changes in locally-raised income which allowed the Fire Service to pull down additional funding if their council had agreed not to raise local taxes. Initially Fire Services took up this grant, but the use of this fell away to an average of 20% of Fire Services by 2015-16. Other options to the Fire Service are additional income from council tax or sales, fees and charges. They can also draw on their reserves. This of course adds further pressure on authorities to focus on revenue maximisation rather than on the core duty of improving the service, reducing fire deaths and bettering response times.

Sharp rise in fire deaths 2016 >> https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2016/apr/26/fire-deaths-rise-by-21-as-chiefs-issue-cuts-warning

info for use on this page
Since 2010, more than 11,000 firefighter jobs have been cut across the UK – one-in-five frontline firefighter jobs, hitting wholetime, retained and control firefighters.

The government intends to cut it's funding to the fire and rescue service by 20% during the course of this parliament. In the last parliament they cut it by 30%.

As a result 11,000 frontline firefighter jobs have gone since 2010 - that is one in six. Stations, appliances and equipment have also been cut. The cuts have been imposed against the background of increased fire deaths in England. New Home Office figures show that in the year ending September 2017, there were 346 fire-related fatalities (including 71 from the Grenfell Tower fire) compared with 253 in the previous year – a 37% increase (up 9% not including Grenfell). 2015-2016 saw a 15% rise in fire deaths compared with the year before.

Since 2010, firefighters have been axed, dozens of fire stations have closed, fire engines have been scrapped and levels of emergency rescue equipment has been slashed. In London alone, 10 fire stations have been closed, 27 fire engines axed and more than 600 firefighter posts have been cut. Every year response times are increasing and 2015-2016 saw a 15% rise in fire deaths compared with the year before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=81&v=67HJZj93o3E The video details the levels of cuts the Fire service has suffered since 2010, including the number of firefighters lost, number of stations closed and the number of appliances removed. It also covers so real cases where due to the cuts the Fire service has been unable to meet response times, leading to deaths.

https://www.fbu.org.uk/