MPs warn on oversight of fire and rescue authorities as further cuts loom

Oversight of fire and rescue authorities must be strengthened as they face the prospect of further funding cuts from 2016/17, an influential committee of MPs has warned.

In a report the Public Accounts Committee said risks to the sustainability of fire and rescue services could increase.

According to the PAC, fire and rescue authorities had “done well” to absorb funding reductions since 2010. Funding for the majority of authorities went down by an average of 28% in real terms between 2010–11 and 2015–16.

The report accused central government and the Department for Communities and Local Government in particular of lacking understanding of the potential impact these reductions would have on services.

The MPs said the Home Office, which recently took over responsibility for the 46 fire and rescue authorities in England from the DCLG, should set out what it was doing to improve this.

The PAC described the standard of local governance and accountability for fire and rescue authorities as “variable”, adding that this raised concerns about operational performance and the safeguarding of value for money.

The committee also expressed concern that "the lack of an independent inspectorate creates the risk that scrutiny of fire authorities will be inconsistent".

The DCLG "did not provide Parliament with sufficiently rigorous assurance on the standards and sustainability of fire and rescue authorities”, it added.

Meg Hillier MP, Chair of the PAC, said: "Our report comes at a critical time for fire and rescue authorities. More funding cuts are in prospect and effective oversight is vital if frontline services are to be protected. Government must properly understand the local implications of budget decisions made in Whitehall and in our view that simply hasn’t been happening.

“The transfer of responsibility for fire and rescue to the Home Office is an opportunity to put right the failings of the past, and one it cannot afford to miss. We urge government to act on our recommendations and will be expecting to see improvements to oversight by the summer."

Responding to the report, Cllr Jeremy Hilton, Chair of the Local Government Association's Fire Services Management Committee, which represents all 46 fire authorities in England, said: "As this report recognises, councillors on English fire and rescue authorities have done a tremendous job of dealing with a cut in fire budgets of 28% since 2010, while working with firefighters to continue to improve fire safety.

"The fire service needs to be funded to risk, and not just demand. Unexpected events like the recent flooding, which involved 25 fire services, shows how important it is the fire service has the capacity to respond to a range of national and local events. We support the committee's call for government to improve its understanding of the capacity of the service to make further savings through efficiencies.”

Cllr Hilton said fire and rescue authorities would continue to explore opportunities for collaboration with partners including other emergency services.

"Changes in the governance model should only happen where there is a robust business case setting out the advantages of doing so, which is supported by all sides and has local support. We hope the Home Office will only support locally driven initiatives rather than impose change from the centre,” he added.