The inside story of how Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue survived brutal austerity cuts
Recent findings revealed fire services across the country are floundering
Alya Zayed
Updated 17:20, 5 SEP 2019
The fire service has been continuously underfunded since 2010 (Image: Ian Cooper/Daily Post Wales)
A decade of austerity has left fire services across the country making cuts in staff and resources.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has urged the government to reverse funding cuts which have left services "in crisis."
The union said there has been a 19 per cent cut in frontline firefighters since the Conservatives took office, while incidents such as wildfires and flooding have increased.
Overall spending on UK fire and rescue services has fallen by 38 per cent since 2005, said the FBU.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: "This shameless government is doing nothing to ease the pressure on overstretched and underpaid firefighters, all while making dubious claims of spending elsewhere.
"Fire and rescue services are in crisis after years of brutal cuts and this year's measly increase in posts is wholly insufficient to plug the gaps.
"We cannot allow firefighters' life-saving work to go unrecognised.
"The Chancellor must fund firefighter recruitment and end the years of real-term pay cuts for firefighters. Our communities need more firefighters and the Government needs to reflect the work they do in their paycheques.
"If this government is serious about tackling the climate emergency, it needs to invest in our frontline defences and it is firefighters who are tackling wildfires and rescuing people stranded in flooding."
Fortunately, not all local services have been struggling.
Matthew Warren, Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Service deputy chief executive, has continuously worked towards improving efficiency and saving money, without impacting the level of service. This is despite losing £6 million in funding over eight years from the government.
Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue work hard across the county (Image: Cambridge News)
He said: "While we recognised we need to make savings, we went about making those savings with a view that we didn't want to change the level of service we provide on the front line."
One of the initiatives taken has been to change the shift system, so more people aren't working than necessary, which means compared to other fire services across the country, fewer staff have been let go.
In 2010, the number of operational staff who ride the fire engines was 214, but it is now 184.
However, this does not include the number of operational staff working in other departments, such as training, operational support, community safety, fire protection, and more, as well as senior officers.
Nevertheless, the service also has two more full-time fire engines available during the day than in 2010.
Mr Warren said: "Nationally, others haven't been as privileged as we've been.
"Our staff have been fantastic and understand we've tried to mitigate any reductions.
"So that's been a real success."
He added: "Our journey, whilst it's not been wonderful, has really encouraged us as an organisation to think about things differently."
Another change made has been to merge some aspects of the service with neighbouring fire services.
The number of fire fighters in Cambridgeshire has stayed relatively consistent (Image: Aldershot Titles)
In 2011, Cambridgeshire and Suffolk fire services merged their fire control rooms, saving each service an estimated £400,000 just by reducing staff numbers whilst maintaining the same levels of service, according to Mr Warren.
No Cambridgeshire control operators were made redundant, but a proportion of the Suffolk staff were.
The Cambridgeshire service also merged its ICT support with the Bedfordshire fire service in 2013.
"We didn't save money there," said Mr Warren.
"But it was more effective without increasing costs."
The staff have reacted very positively, he added, and have been very receptive to the changes, which have improved efficiency.
Mr Warren, who started in his role shortly before austerity began, said he had noticed a significant "cultural change" amongst staff, which has been an unintended positive consequence.
He said: "They understand now the ongoing budget challenge is just another element of us being a fire service.
"They ask very educated questions on future challenges. There was nothing like that in the past."
In addition, some forward-planning has ensured the fire fighters will continue to do their life-saving work at the same level they do now for the foreseeable future.
When the fire service learned budget cuts were ahead, they used the money they had at the time to invest in brand new fire engines and equipment to give themselves a "solid foundation" to work with once money was tighter.
Local NewsPeterborough Babylon Restaurant and Shisha Lounge shut down after teenage girls are 'raped'Five people have been arrested
Local NewsGood Pub Guide 2020: The award-winning Cambridgeshire spots you need to visitOakham brewery based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, was named the Good Pub Guide 2020 Brewery of the Year