A strategic review of the fire and rescue service and the future extent of government involvement in it – as well as a re-appraisal of FireControl – has been announced by fire minister Bob Neill.

Speaking yesterday at the opening conference session of the Fire and Rescue 2010 Conference, Mr Neill said the review was driven by the government’s intention to bring ‘localism’ into public services – devolving as much power as possible to local authorities and local communities. [Read full speech here]

Fire minister Bob Neill promised challenging times ahead

With the implication that any expenditure cuts will be across the board rather than targeted, the minister said that it was up to local fire and rescue authorities how they spent their money and what they considered were ‘frontline’ services. The strategic review would consider:

• Letting fire and rescue services decide their own priorities and what constitutes ‘front line’ services
• Whether the National Framework process was needed
• Whether individual fire authorities should be allowed to work together in ways that suit them, rather than through Regional Management Boards
• Ending national targets for workforce diversity

Referring to the dividing line between central and local responsibility, he said “it is about resetting the relationship – looking at that line between central and national. If it makes sense for something to be handled at a national level that does not automatically mean that it needs to be driven centrally. “There is a line to be drawn and I want to send a clear signal that we in government are looking urgently at what we should stop doing, and at what the sector can be expected to do for itself.”

Mr Neill also suggested at least a halt to growing regulation on a wider fire protection basis. On a recent visit to the West Midlands, he said he saw the good work that was being done on sprinkler protection without regulation. “If you think that more fire protection would be good for UK businesses then you should be making your case to the business community, not to the government.”

FireControl
Mr Neill also announced that the project to implement a national network of regional control rooms – FireControl – was under review. He said if the project was to be completed, it would need to be delivered on time, to budget and without cutting any corners as far as the needs of the fire and rescue service is concerned.

Promising challenging times ahead he told delegates: “I believe there is significant scope to find efficiencies in the way you deliver services. And not to put too fine a point upon it, to deliver on savings will mean doing more for less, or in some cases stopping activity which no longer needs to be done.

“It’s not just about value for money – that’s old news, it’s nothing special and it is what everyone should do all the time. But it is about looking at your ways of working.”

Full text of the speech