Give our fire service a better funding deal

Mid-Worcestershire MP Peter Luff said he was worried the service is at the bottom of the funding pile – the authority has an annual budget of about £31 million – compared with others around the country.

Mr Luff also praised the work firefighters do during a visit to Evesham fire station.

Mr Luff, minister for defence equipment, support and technology, said: “I am still deeply concerned about plans to regionalise the control of fire and rescue services and I really hope the coalition government can get out of the ridiculously expensive contracts and inflexible bureaucracy the last government has tried to impose.

“I’m also worried that Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service is literally at the bottom of the funding pile with the lowest per head funding from central government of any service in the country.

“I hope this is something that will be addressed soon – it’s not just our schools that do so badly when it comes to handing out taxpayers’ money fairly.”

During Mr Luff’s visit to Evesham fire station he had a briefing from Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service’s new chief fire officer Mark Yates.

Mr Luff, who got kitted out with firefighting gear, said a highlight was being allowed to use advanced cutting equipment used by crews when they attended road traffic accidents.

“But perhaps the most interesting part was being shown the new water rescue equipment at Evesham and learning about the rigorous training our firefighters go through to make sure they get the best from it,” he said.

“We are really fortunate to have such excellent equipment and brave and dedicated firefighters.”

Mr Luff was also shown the more traditional firefighting equipment and talked at length to the firefighters.

“This visit reminded me that there is so much more to our fire service than just fighting fires – their work at road traffic accidents is crucial and their newly enhanced water rescue services are, sadly, likely to prove invaluable too,” he said.