South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s Finance & Resources Director, Beverley Sandy, has said that the service is preparing to make savings of up to £12 million, in case potential 25 per cent cuts in Government funding become a reality.

SYFR had been initially preparing for cuts of 15 per cent, from its annual budget of £60 million, totalling around £9 million. However, the Chancellor’s Emergency Budget, on the 22 June, announced that every government department and local authority should expect an average 20-25 per cent reduction in funding. This means that the service could lose an estimated £12 million of Government grants with inflation and a two-year council tax freeze.

However, a public sector pay freeze for those earning over £21,000 introduced by the coalition government will enable SYFR to make savings as the service had forecasted for a one per cent increase in wages.

SYFR has been preparing for the possibility of the full extent of the cuts, by launching a consultation, which is still ongoing, with the public, key stakeholders and staff. This has enabled the service to gain ideas and seek feedback on how it can improve efficiency and run at a reduced cost. But, it is now inevitable that more stringent cut backs will have to be made in order to meet the demands imposed by the funding cuts.

Mrs Sandy said: “We will look at every opportunity to ensure the cuts do not impact on front line services and that the people of South Yorkshire get the highest quality service. We are going to have to ‘think outside the box’ and look at new ways to continue delivering the service, such as teaming up with other fire and rescue organisations, the police or ambulance service. One thing is clear though, when you are looking at cut backs of this scale, you have to be very creative on how you manage and maintain service delivery.

“The pay freeze will also impact upon individuals. Many members of staff will not get a pay rise and with VAT and inflation rising, they may see a substantial reduction in their incomes. However, we do have about 100 members of staff, earning under £21,000, who will still receive wage increments of £250 per year.”

She added: “SYFR is unsure at the moment about how it will deal with the cut backs - no decisions have been made. We will be much clearer on the actions we will have to take in November when the coalition government releases the final funding figures for SYFR”.