CAMBRIDGESHIRE Fire and Rescue cannot reduce its services further without cutting its frontline services, the new chairman of its ruling authority has warned.
Cambridgeshire County Councillor Sir Peter Brown, who was elected chairman of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority at the first meeting of the newly elected authority this month, said further cuts would not be the best way forward.
Sir Peter said: “We have immense challenges ahead of us. Cambridgeshire is the fastest growing county in the country and Peterborough has its own planned population growth,
“This being the case, I firmly reject the notion that we can reduce our services any further in the next Comprehensive Spending Review period (post 2015).
“What’s more, we should be forward-looking and consider how we are going to develop our fire and rescue service, which will serve an area with at least 50,000 more homes.
“Our Fire Authority is already lean and prudent. I will relentlessly remind Government Ministers and Members of Parliament that we cannot continue to reduce our expenditure without cutting the front line service.
“We are already efficient, but what we can continue to do is investigate ways in which joint working with our partners can lead to cost effective savings.”
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here