
![]() |
Brian Sims
Editor |
Home> | Fire | >Enforcement | >Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's £389m repairs bill |
Home> | Fire | >Fire and Rescue | >Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's £389m repairs bill |
ARTICLE
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service's £389m repairs bill
04 June 2018
THE SCOTTISH Fire Service (SFRS) is facing large service bills for property and vehicle maintenance, says Audit Scotland.
Auditor General Caroline Gardner says real progress has been made with integrating the eight former services into a single body. However, this single service has inherited a capital backlog of £389 million needed to maintain and invest in its property, vehicles and equipment.
This backlog, says the report, is insurmountable without a transformation of the service's current delivery model plus additional investment.
The SFRS's running costs are around 12 per cent lower (£266m) than when the services merged five years ago. It has also demonstrated strong financial management and board governance.
The SFRS is now in a good position to complete the process following a deal agreed in April 2018 to harmonise firefighters pay and conditions.
Ambitious plans to modernise and transform the service, meanwhile, have been affected by:
• A cautious approach taken by the SFRS to secure political, staff, trades unions' and public backing for its vision;
• The need for sufficient funding to begin implementing change;
• Limited availability of senior officers to lead transformation projects.
Modernisation is needed to reflect the different risks faced by Scotland's population since the regional fire services were set up in the late 1940s.
Ms Gardner said: "The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has an ambitious vision that involves significant changes to make it a more flexible, modern service.
"It now needs to press ahead with transformation so that it can respond to the changing needs of the public and can address its increasingly unsustainable model of delivery.
"This will take time to achieve and will mean difficult decisions about how the SFRS deploys its people and resources.”
This backlog, says the report, is insurmountable without a transformation of the service's current delivery model plus additional investment.
The SFRS's running costs are around 12 per cent lower (£266m) than when the services merged five years ago. It has also demonstrated strong financial management and board governance.
The SFRS is now in a good position to complete the process following a deal agreed in April 2018 to harmonise firefighters pay and conditions.
Ambitious plans to modernise and transform the service, meanwhile, have been affected by:
• A cautious approach taken by the SFRS to secure political, staff, trades unions' and public backing for its vision;
• The need for sufficient funding to begin implementing change;
• Limited availability of senior officers to lead transformation projects.
Modernisation is needed to reflect the different risks faced by Scotland's population since the regional fire services were set up in the late 1940s.
Ms Gardner said: "The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has an ambitious vision that involves significant changes to make it a more flexible, modern service.
"It now needs to press ahead with transformation so that it can respond to the changing needs of the public and can address its increasingly unsustainable model of delivery.
"This will take time to achieve and will mean difficult decisions about how the SFRS deploys its people and resources.”
MORE FROM THIS COMPANY
- Director in dock for providing unlicensed security operatives
- Crowded Space Drones receives UK’s inaugural compliance certificate for private sector
- Off-duty firefighters save life
- Johnson Controls moves to acquire Provincial Sprinkler Company Ltd
- Concerning rise in deliberately set fires
- RBFRS breaks ground on new facility
- £80,000 fine following gas explosion
- Firefighters call for high rise evacuation review
- TransUnion launches document verification and facial recognition solution to help UK businesses combat identity fraud
- SG Restaurants Ltd fined £20,000 for fire safety breaches
RELATED ARTICLES
- Laying down the law
- State of the Union
- Student lettings firm fined £150,000 for fire failings
- Government outlines fire service reforms
- From the editor
- Fire safety returns home to NEC Birmingham
- Blog for FSM website
- Huge fine for Lakanal House fire
- Cigarette fires on the rise
- Restaurant chain served fine for fire breaches
OTHER ARTICLES IN THIS SECTION