VETERAN BROADCASTER John Pienaar chaired this session, which will focused on the benefits and problems of collaboration between fire and rescue services.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) chief fire officer Alasdair Hay explained that the creation of a single fire service in Scotland has not been detrimental to maintaining local accountability. This has been achieved by creating local plans, which are examined by a scrutiny committee to ensure that local authority is maintained. Fire stations are now more publicly accessible to communities than before and they host regular events.
Cost savings
He said that the merger has put the SFRS in the best possible position to protect frontline services, despite the need to make cost savings of £44 million over the next three years, which it is currently on course to achieve. If England adopted this approach, he said, it could potentially save ten times this amount, which would equate to nearly half a billion pounds.
Mr Hay accepted that the creation of a single fire and rescue service in England would be a challenge, but is adamant it could work. He said: ‘Don’t tell me collaboration doesn’t work. It does and Scotland has proved it.’
Differing needs
Chief Fire Officers Association chairman Peter Dartford stressed that community needs in England differ from those in Scotland. He was not sold on the idea that a single fire service would work in England. In order to assess the way forward in England, he believes there needs first to be an analysis of community needs.
He also remains unconvinced that you can make cost savings via collaboration. Instead, it may be better to work with local authorities and communities to see how savings can be made to the public purse. Eliminating repetition between services and other public sectors in helping local people is a more realistic way to drive efficiency and save resources.
Mr Dartford closed by saying that in Scotland they have identified a solution, whereas in England there hasn’t yet been an identification of what needs to be achieved. He fears there is an element of standardisation at play, which could prove inflexible and not take into account the impact that locality has on the service.