Fears over £2m gap in fire service funding
RISK OF ‘SIGNIFICANT’ CUTS SAYS CHIEF
CONCERNS over Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service’s finances have been raised after it was revealed there could be a £2m funding gap in its budget next year.
One councillor has asked for reassurance that there would be no cuts to full-time firefighters.
Chief Fire Officer Craig Parkin, who took on the role this year, said that some of the issues may be solved with more funding – but this was unlikely.
A report published for the county policy and strategy committee meeting said that a “potential funding gap in excess of £2m has been identified for 2023/24 and beyond”.
The service has an 11 or 12 percent vacancy rate, which Mr Parkin admitted was good in that it saved money – but meant current employees had to pick up more work.
He said around 75 percent of the current budget was spent on pay, which meant people working for the service “cannot go unaffected”.
He added: “These are now becoming significant cuts.”
He told councillors: “The reality is that we’ve had over a decade of austerity and that appears to continue. The drivers for that may be different in terms of inflation and the effects of global issues particularly around Europe. The problem is not going away and I think if inflation carries on, that may linger further over to other financial years. We may have to look at a longer-term plan.
“In my time over the last decade, we’ve gone from something in excess of 1,100 staff to just over 800 staff. Just like any public sector body, there have been significant 25 to 30 percent reductions in that time.”
The report says: “The service’s 2023 ambition to be ‘outstanding’ fully aligns with the duty for continuous improvement. However, given the expectations on the sector and growing demands highlighted in this report, it is likely that adjustments will be required to the establishment and structure of it.”
Friday’s committee meeting was held as part of the Fire Authority, a body of local councillors and other officials which oversee the service’s performance and spending.
Councillor Tom Hollis (Ind) said: “We’re in the reality where there isn’t as much money about as there once was. I’d hope there are certain red lines we’re going to be putting in to say this is the thing we won’t consider cutting.
“You’ll be aware of some of the problems at Ashfield where we have had cuts to the fire station and sadly we’ve had some quite serious incidents which – who’s to say? – would have turned out differently if we had a wholetime service.”
Mr Parkin replied: “To talk of red lines at the minute I’d be putting my neck on the block in front of you as a fire authority. All I can see is we will take the data and we will look at the information and we will come back to you with our best advice for you to consider and scrutinise in the autumn.”
Councillor Johno Lee (Con) added: “I’ve looked at the finances, I’ve looked at the future plan.
“I think we could be in a bit of trouble. I think we need to have an emergency summit and invite every single member of parliament to come and speak to us at the same time. If our service doesn’t do what it needs to do, people will die, people will lose their lives.”
Mr Parkin said he had drafted a letter to all MPS in the county.