Fire Service Funding Gap

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is facing a financial black hole of £42.7 million.

Audit Scotland estimates the single service cost the public purse £36 million as a result of its amalgamation in April 2013. The spending watchdog is warning that a long-term financial plan is needed to close the gap by 2019/20.

Caroline Gardner, Auditor General for Scotland, said: "The creation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was well managed. This achievement provides a valuable opportunity to share the lessons of how this was done with other public bodies going through a merger process. 

"The Service is reviewing how it will work in the future, and there is still a lot of hard work to do. Even without the funding gap identified in our report, a long-term financial strategy would be essential. It's now crucial that the service agrees this strategy, and supporting plans, to show how it will close the funding gap and achieve savings by 2019/20 and beyond." 

The report also warns that the funding gap could exceed £42.7 million if some areas in the public sector are protected.
 
Other concerns highlighted in the document include a 5% increase in the amount of false alarms caused by equipment malfunction or failure in 2013/14. The false alarms represented 42% of all emergency incidents at a cost of £19 million. In the first year of operation there was a 5% rise in fires with the single service attending over 27,900 incidents. Road traffic fatalities and non-fatalities were also on the rise from 90 and 1,797 in 2009/10 to 110 and 1,880 in 2013/14.
 
Scottish Conservative justice spokeswoman Margaret Mitchell said: “All fire men and women do an amazing job of sacrificing their own life to keep the public safe and they cannot be faulted. 
 
“However, the Audit Scotland report highlights the serious failings of the SNP in managing the amalgamation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.
 
“We know that false alarms represent almost half of this deficit and clearly this is an area in which improvements need to be made.
 
“The bottom line is that the focus must remain on public safety, accountability and the brave men and women who work for the service.
 
“I would hope that the SNP look thoroughly into these issues as a matter of urgency.”

The Scottish Liberal Democrats say a lack of a long-term financial strategy must be resolved urgently in order to avoid damaging cuts to fire services in local communities.

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Alison McInnes MSP said: “This report reveals the significant challenges the new national fire and rescue service faces. These include tightening budgets and reforming the network of retained and volunteer firefighters who provide cover to most of Scotland – a system previously described by fire bosses as being “on its knees”. 

“It is surprising and worrying that the service still doesn’t have a long-term financial strategy, particularly given the prospect of a £43 million black hole in its budget. This must be resolved urgently in order to avoid damaging cuts to the services local communities receive.”

Scottish Labour’s Justice Spokesperson, Hugh Henry MSP said: “Our firefighters do a brilliant job, risking life and limb to protect our communities.
 
“But public safety is now being threatened because the SNP Government has left the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service with a significant funding gap of £42.7 million. 

“These figures are alarming and bear out the concerns expressed recently by firefighters and their trade union.
 
“SNP Justice Secretary Michael Matheson needs to guarantee sufficient funds to deliver a safe and effective fire service. The Scottish Government caused a VAT liability which has cost our fire service up to £10million. A cost which HM Treasury have confirmed could have been avoided.
 
“We’ve seen what underfunding has done to our police service, with backfilling leading to police officers covering roles previously held by civilian staff. With firefighter numbers falling, the SNP must guarantee that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will not suffer a similar fate.
 
“The SNP Government must now explain to the public how they are going to protect our communities if they fail to plug this avoidable funding gap.”