New funding crisis for Shropshire fire and rescue
Friday 17th December 2010, 12:51AM GMT.
Shropshire’s fire and rescue service is facing a worse than expected cut in the amount of cash it receives from government, a meeting was told.
The 28 per cent reduction is worse than anticipated as service bosses had been drawing up budget plans based on a 25 per funding cut – which in itself means finding savings of about £3 million over the next four years – Shropshire and Wrekin Fire Authority was told yesterday.
Members have pledged to step up lobbying of the Government to get a fairer deal for the county.
Shropshire has suffered one of the largest percentage reductions of fire authorities despite already being one of the lowest funded.
Stuart West,authority chairman, said the draft funding settlement was “very worrying” and a “great disappointment”.
He gave an assurance that the service would be protected for the next two years because of the financial plans already developed..
But Councillor West warned that “the future beyond 2012 does not look good.”
He added: “Despite my disappointment, I remain confident and optimistic that for the immediate two year period we will still maintain all our fire stations that are at the heart of so many communities.”
The service currently gets government grants of £8 million – a third of its budget – but for the next financial year it will be reduced to £7.48 million and in 2012/13 to £7.2 million.
Revised budget figures presented yesterday show the service able to make savings of £448,000 and £193,000 over the next two years. But the savings drop to just £34,000 in 2013/14 and the following year it is in the red by £493,000.
By Dave Morris
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Like our councils, the Fire Service is stuffed silly with costly parasitic positions involving ‘equality & diversity’.Get rid of these and they’ll save thousands of pounds.
The Fire Service should stop playing at being social enigeers and get on with the job we pay them to do.
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So in yourr book Helen there should be no equality between sexes and races then, want to go back to the times when women and ethnic minorities were discriminated against on jobs .
I doubt very much that the Fire Service is “stuffed with parasitic positions” unless you can come up with the evidence to the contrary and not from the tabloid press.
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I think Helen’s point is that these organisations have several highly paid senior managers and they do should be tasked with this work. It is the same as Shropshire Council employing transformation consultants, at great cost. It is the senior management’s task to shape the organisation and they should not employ someone else to do what is a core function of their work.
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The Fire and Rescue Service, together with other services must bear the burdens of the profligate use of public finances by succ- essive governments, local and national.
These organisations have a duty to employ staff within the rules of diversity and equality by law. The Fire and Rescue Service make every effort to comply with these rules and do an excellent job.
There are merits in Helen’s opinions. She is not ill informed and, indeed, many people would rightly concur with her opinions. However, the ‘costly parasitic positions’ she speaks of,give jobs to people so that they may support their families and allow them to live decent lives.
So, to the vitriolic amongst you good people out there, show a little charity.
A happy Christmas to you all.
Enoch Pray
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“The Fire and Rescue Service, together with other services must bear the burdens…”
Why?
Why shouldn’t the banks bear the brunt of the burden. It wasn’t equality and diversity staff up and down the country who caused the economic meltdown.
What about the tax-avoiding corporations, who are happy to exploit any loophole they can get away with to avoid paying their dues? Why can’t they pay their share? There are literally tens of billions of pounds being lost from the public purse through tax avoidance and evasion – in 2008-09 it was at least £42 billion!
It’s not about charity, it’s about common sense.
Our parliament of millionaires has no interest in justice or equality, and they have no need for a welfare state.
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