Cornwall Fire & Rescue Service Newsdesk

at 31/01/2008 14:15

Cornwall County Council has welcomed the findings of a Government report into its performance as the county’s Fire and Rescue Authority.

The annual report by the Audit Commission assesses the performance of the county’s Fire and Rescue Authority in three main areas – the effectiveness of the service delivered to residents and businesses, whether it is providing value for money and whether the service has improved or deteriorated over the last 12 months.

This year’s report notes that the Brigade has maintained its operational performance, improved value for money and made progress in a number of priority areas, despite budget pressures, and concludes that it is improving adequately.

Particular praise is given to the positive impact of community safety initiatives, with the Inspectors noting that the Authority is working effectively with partners to improve outcomes for people living in rural areas and young people.

The report also identifies a number of areas for development, concluding that the Authority needs to address continued capacity pressures if it is to make further improvement.

County Councillor Ken Yeo (Lib Dem), the Executive Member for Public Protection, has welcomed the findings of the report and says that the County Council is already taking action to address the areas for development.

“I am delighted that the Inspectors have recognised the continuing good preventative work which is being carried out in Cornwall” he said. “We are very proud of the work our Firefighters are doing with local communities and with young people such as the highly successful Phoenix Project. The successful funding bid to the National Lottery will enable a great deal of work to be carried out in the Camborne, Pool and Redruth communities ”.

“The County Council is committed to providing the best possible Fire and Rescue Service for the people of Cornwall. We are well aware of the impact of continuing capacity pressures on future service development and are already looking at ways to address this as quickly as possible. “

“We are currently carrying out a comprehensive review of fire cover in the county and are looking at the possibility of increasing the budget for the Fire and Rescue Service to enable a trial of the proposed new Retained Duty System to be evaluated and additional Firefighters to be recruited.”