Chancellor of the Exchequer

The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP

11 October 2021

Dear Chancellor,

I am writing to set out some concerns that have been shared with me by East Sussex Fire Authority (ESFA) and about the urgent need to use the forthcoming Comprehensive Spending Review to put fire services on a sustainable footing.

As you will know, nationally, the fire sector has been reliant on one-off funding for significant costs in recent years and, when coupled with the impacts of Covid-19, the lack of commitment to investment in protection services (post Grenfell) beyond the current financial year and anticipated further increases in pension costs, this makes effective planning for the 2022/23 budget and beyond extremely difficult. East Sussex Fire Authority modelling suggests the resulting funding gap could be £3.0m in 2022/23 rising to £4.6m in 2026/27 in a worst case scenario – and I expect it could very well be higher if jobs and public safety are to be fully protected.

The Authority, which was judged by  HMICFRS in 2019 to be “good at using its resources efficiently, has realistic and robust financial  plans in place and is good at making its services affordable now and in future,” notes that its core spending power has been reduced by over 20% in real terms since 2010/11, forcing them to cut the number of full-time firefighters by 76 in that same period - an 18% reduction.

The Government cannot continue to cut the service to the bone and expect the public and firefighters to be kept safe under these circumstances. As a matter of urgent priority and at the very least, the fire sector needs a fair and sustainable medium term funding settlement including a current cash plus inflation settlement that means sufficient resources are available to provide an emergency response in times of exceptional demand, as we have seen

throughout the Covid-19 pandemic and as the predicted number of  extreme weather related incidents increases due to the climate emergency; funding to address the significant cost pressures around fair pay and pensions, the impact of  Covid-19 on council tax bases, replacement of key national resilience assets and replacement of the national Airwave communications system; investment in protection improvement activity in response both to new regulatory requirements and the findings of reviews into the Grenfell Tower tragedy; support to achieve national targets for carbon reduction.

East Susses Fire Authority are also calling for precept flexibility to allow decisions to be taken locally based on risk and in order to better ensure the financial sustainability of the service over the medium term.

Failing to fund our fire authorities costs lives. In particular, ESFA Authority has the fifth highest number of high rise buildings of  any service in England, and whilst it is planning to supplement one-off grant of £1.022m over 2020/21

and 2021/22 with a further £0.3m from its own reserves, the Government has a responsibility to provide on-going baseline funding to meet  the cost of new much needed building safety regulation.

I trust you have received the Local Government Association and the National Fire Chief’s Council joint submission to CSR direct and will consider these points with the utmost care and attention..

Yours sincerely,