In December 2012 the Government’s former Chief Fire and Rescue service advisor Sir Ken Knight was commissioned to undertake a review of the capacity for efficiency and operations in fire and rescue services in England.
The 2013 Spending Review will see the drive for efficiency become even greater not just in terms of cashable savings but also operationally. Saying that, over the last decade there has been reductions in the following areas:
- overall attendance at incidents is down 40 per cent
- attendance at fires is down 39 per cent
- building fires down 39 per cent
In light of these figures in 2011/12 fire and rescue services still spent around £2.2bn. Facing the Future, published on 17th May 2013, has suggested that to drive efficiency within the service all 46 services should join together and work collaboratively. The review highlighted 5 key themes for exploration:
1. What is efficiency and how efficient is the delivery of fire and rescue services in England?
2. Deploying resources
3. Collaborating for efficiency
4. Driving efficiency
5. What is the future for fire and rescue?
With these issues in mind this briefing will take an in-depth look at the points mentioned above and will provide a platform for wider debate and discussion about the future of fire and rescue services in England.
Speaker:
Matt Wrack - General Secretary, Fire Bridges Union
Born Manchester 1962.
London Fire Brigade 1983 - Worked at various fire stations in East London.
Quickly became involved in the Fire Brigades Union becoming a Branch Secretary 1984.
Served as a member of the FBU London Regional Committee 1988-2005
London FBU Regional Organiser 2002
Was elected Regional Secretary 2004
Was elected FBU Assistant General Secretary Election March 2005
Was elected General Secretary May 2005
Is the Employee Side Joint Secretary of the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire and Rescue Services (NJC) and also for the Middle Managers’ Negotiating Body (MMNB).
Is a member of the TUC General Council and the TUC Executive Committee.