The Fire Transformation Fund, announced last March, is giving £75 million to fire and rescue authorities to help ensure better and more efficient front-line services for the public. In total, 37 projects from across the country will get funding.

Announcing the winning bids, Fire Minster Penny Mordaunt said:

“Fire services have done an amazing job over the last few years in reducing demand on their emergency services; there are fewer fires and deaths. But this means the service needs to adapt – to meet new demands and to ensure it is working in the most efficient way. That’s why we’ve set up the Fire Transformation Fund.”

“One of the things that I found encouraging was the high number of bids looking to promote greater collaboration with other emergency services through sharing stations and services, sharing of back office functions, and joining up on service delivery. This is exactly the sort of innovation that is needed across the public sector and I look forward to seeing how these projects progress.”

Amongst the winning bids are the following:

• Surrey will lead a project with fire, police and ambulance services across Sussex and Surrey to deliver efficient emergency service transport functions. (Award £5.96 million / fire and rescue authority projected discounted savings to public sector £20 million.)

• Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Authority will work with county council services to re-locate library services in 4 Hertfordshire villages to on-call fire stations, with resultant joint-use rationalisation efficiencies whilst establishing a community friendly platform for prevention and protection service delivery. (Award £700,000 / fire and rescue authority projected discounted savings to public sector £900,000.)

• Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority will work with both Kent and Essex fire and rescue authorities to establish a procurement hub leading towards a national procurement capability for the sector. (Award £370,000 / fire and rescue authority projected discounted savings to public sector £27 million.)

• Essex Fire and Rescue Authority will lead a syndicate of 9 fire and rescue authorities establishing an insurance pooling arrangement open to all fire and rescue authorities with additional secondary insurance to cover extreme events. Efficiencies will be achieved via reduced insurance costs, whilst continuing to maintain a robust approach to risk management. (Award £220,000 / fire and rescue authority projected discounted savings to public sector £2.3 million.)