Fire Works: A Collaborative Way Forward for the Fire and Rescue Service
July 30, 2015
By Dr Claire Mansfield
The fire and rescue service (FRS) has a critical choice to make about its future. Severe budget cuts in the Revenue Support Grant and limitations on council tax income are eating into the service’s capacity, leaving an estimated total shortfall for all services of £600 million by the end of the decade.
At the same time, there has been a steady fall in the number of fires, but expenditure and firefighter numbers have not fallen to the same extent. This has opened up questions about the purpose and future focus of the FRS. What is the service for, if not putting out fires? This report attempts both to answer that question, and to outline how the FRS might change to achieve a more sustainable and effective future.
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