Frontline fire services in the North East could soon be hit with significant cuts, it is feared.
Bosses are predicting that the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) will overspend its budget by more than £650,000 this year, though no details of any job losses or other planned cutbacks have yet been confirmed. It comes amid warnings that rising fuel and energy bills, as well as higher-than-expected pay rises for staff, could have a devastating impact on crucial, lifesaving services across the region.
Councillors in Newcastle have issued a plea for ministers to step in and save fire authorities that are on the brink of a financial calamity. A motion backed unanimously by the city council last week calls on the government to fully fund all inflationary pressures on services this year, saying it would be “unfair and unrealistic” for local fire chiefs to cope with the crisis without extra help.
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The council warned that, without government support, TWFRS may have to balance the books “by cutting essential services to our residents, including those in Newcastle, Sunderland, North Tyneside, South Tyneside and Gateshead”. TWFRS documents reveal that, at the halfway point of the financial year, finance chiefs are expecting that the service will overspend its budget by £651,000 – blaming the spike in fuel, heat, and lighting costs, overtime payments, and potential pay rises for staff that are still being negotiated.
Firefighters could soon go on strike, with the Fire Brigades Union currently balloting nationally on whether to accept a 5% pay offer – which it has urged its members to reject as it would represent a “significant real-terms pay cut” when compared to the current rate of inflation.
Last month, a retiring North East fire boss warned he had “never felt more fearful for the future of the highly respected and professional service that I love", as he faces axing up to 50 firefighter jobs amid a cash crisis. Stuart Errington, the outgoing chief fire officer at County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Service, said: “We have been placed in a perilous position by a funding crisis that threatens to cost lives unless the Government acts responsibly.”
A TWFRS spokesperson said it was “too early to speculate” on what cuts it might need to make. They added: “Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service, like other public services, has faced funding challenges. The Service along with the Fire Authority, have over the years had to make difficult decisions with the funds available to us.
“The current forecasted budget deficit will require efficiencies to be identified and any further financial pressures will need to be carefully thought through. In due course the Chief Fire Officer will take any necessary decisions to Fire Authority. It is too early to speculate on any specific measures that may need to be taken, however our community can be assured that with any changes, we will always seek to provide them with the best service possible with the funding provided.”
Labour councillor Karen Kilgour, Newcastle City Council’s deputy leader, said last week: “Our fire service, like the rest of the public sector, is under huge budgetary strain following 12 long years of austerity, exacerbated by soaring inflation. Firefighters, like all public sector workers, deserve a pay settlement at least in line with inflation, funded by national government.”
At last week’s city council meeting, Lib Dem Tom Woodwark added that he had “lost count” of how many ministers had been put in charge of fire services in the past six months and that local authority bosses were facing “real, real difficulty”. Labour’s David Wood said he would “hate to see the fire authority go on strike because firefighters are not just there for Bonfire Night, they are there all the year round.”
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