“Incomprehensible” cuts would threaten public safety, warn Fire Chiefs

1. Standalone fire and rescue authorities facing £102 million real terms cut due to Government grant reductions, according to modelling commissioned by the National Fire Chiefs Council. Equivalent to loss of 1,500 wholetime equivalent firefighters, with this figure set to rise to as much as 2,300 once London and the county services are factored in.
2. Council tax rises won’t be enough to offset the anticipated cuts, NFCC warns.
3. Demand on fire and rescue services is going up whilst firefighter numbers are falling. Fire and rescue services in England responded to 600,185 incidents in total last year – an increase of 100,000 (20%) compared to a decade ago (2014).
4. Firefighter numbers in England are already down by 25% since 2008 – the equivalent of 11,000 wholetime firefighters.

Fire and rescue services are facing “real and significant cuts” to government grant funding that could undermine their ability to keep communities safe, the National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) warned today. NFCC also urged the Government to protect fire service funding in real terms and not to rely on council tax rises to plug the resulting gaps in fire and rescue funding, saying that even if all fire and rescue authorities were willing and able to put up their precept by the maximum £5 per year, it would not offset the cuts in full when factoring in the expected rate of inflation and legitimate rises in staff pay.

NFCC says that changes proposed as part of the Spending Review are predicted to result in cuts of over £100 million based on preliminary modelling. The reduction in Government grant funding, combined with proposed changes to how that money is distributed to local services through the local government finance settlement, would significantly weaken the fire and rescue sector, placing lives – particularly in deprived communities – at risk.

The warning comes as the Government moves to determine how funding from the recently announced Spending Review will be allocated to services and as it concludes a consultation on proposed changes to how it distributes local government funding as part of the Fair Funding Review 2.0. Independent modelling commissioned by NFCC shows that the anticipated changes could result in a real-terms cut in grant funding of £102 million for standalone fire and rescue authorities over the next three years – the equivalent of losing approximately 1,500 wholetime firefighter posts – delivering a devastating blow to an already under pressure emergency service.

The modelling also shows that when London and county services are included, this figure could rise to 2,300 firefighters.

National Fire Chiefs Council (NFCC) Chair, Phil Garrigan, said:

“I do recognise the Government has the unenviable task of balancing public finances and they face really tough choices when it comes to funding local services, but we have to confront how precarious a position fire and rescue finances are in right now.

“If I didn’t speak up, I would be letting down the fire and rescue service and, more importantly, the people we serve. I would also be letting the Government down as I would be allowing decisions to be made without highlighting the real and legitimate concerns we have – concerns for the public, and concerns for the safety of our firefighters who risk their lives every day.

“Fire and rescue services cannot continue to be expected to deliver more with less. We are already seeing demand rising, risks evolving, and our remit expanding – from tackling the effects of climate change to responding to increased blue light collaboration – all while firefighter numbers have fallen sharply.

“A failure to recognise these burdens and to forge ahead with the funding proposals as they stand would be incomprehensible. The safety of our communities depends on a funding settlement that matches the reality on the ground, and ensures we have the people, equipment and capability to protect the public.

“We can no longer just roll up our sleeves and get on with it, our silence will put lives at risk. We cannot allow our fire and rescue service to become the forgotten emergency service.”

Fire and rescue services are projected to receive 4.3% of the total funding allocation for local government, down from 4.9%.

NFCC says the impact of these cuts will be exacerbated by changes made to how the money is distributed through the Fair Funding Review 2.0, which will change how the reduced fire total will be shared between individual fire and rescue authorities. Under the new approach, population figures will have a significant impact in determining local allocations. While the population is rising across the country, the Government has chosen not to increase the overall national funding available for fire and rescue services.

According to NFCC analysis, this population-based change will result in a substantial redistribution of existing funds, with big winners and big losers. Areas experiencing faster population growth are set to receive a larger share of the smaller funding pot, while those with slower growth could see further reductions – even if they face higher levels of risk, such as chemical sites, high-rise buildings, often combined with heighten levels of deprivation.

Fire chiefs are urging the Government not to rely on local increases in council tax to offset cuts.

Whilst standalone fire and rescue authorities are expected to be able to raise their precept by up to £5 per year for a band D property, combined with the reallocation of funding under the review, core spending power for many FRSs will not keep pace with inflation or in some cases be frozen entirely.

NFCC is concerned that the uplift is also dependent on local political governance and is not a given. In areas unable to secure such increases, services will face real-term funding cuts.

The threat of further cuts comes at a time when demand on fire and rescue services is increasing, and firefighter numbers have fallen significantly. Data from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) shows fire and rescue services in England responded to 600,185 incidents in total last year – an increase of 100,000 (20%) compared to a decade ago (2014). Meanwhile firefighter numbers in England are down by 25% since 2008 – the equivalent of 11,000 wholetime firefighters.

NFCC is calling for:

1. Funding for Fire and Rescue services to be protected in real terms.

2. Uncapped council tax flexibility for all fire and rescue authorities (FRAs), allowing local consultation on necessary increases without costly referendums and consistency in the precept flexibility available to all FRAs.

3. Fire and rescue funding to be removed from the Fair Funding Review until a risk-based model is developed in collaboration with the sector.

4. A dedicated funding system for fire and rescue, comparable to policing, recognising its national resilience role.

5. A full risk analysis before any funding formula changes are made, ensuring no service faces large, destabilising funding shocks.

NFCC

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