WGPlus (Archive)

Make a bonfire of wasteful practices

Fire & rescue services across the country could save £18m from a total spend of £127m a year by improving the way they source & purchase firefighting clothing & equipment says research published by the CLG.  The findings highlight examples of fire services buying identical kit at vastly different prices.

Key differences include:

  • prices for the same kit can vary by as much as 200%
  • when the same supplier was used prices varied by a quarter
  • even when the same contract was used there is still a significant price range of 66%

The findings follow last year’s report by former chief firefighter Sir Ken Knight, which highlighted the scope for the services to find £200m in savings whilst safeguarding emergency operations and protecting public safety.  It revealed huge variations exist between how the 46 different fire authorities operate, with the cost per head of providing a service almost double in some areas to that of others.

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