Up to GB pound 130 million of Private Finance Initiative funding is being made available to fire and rescue services in England and Wales, fire minister Parmit Dhanda announced last week.
Fire Authorities can bid for a share of the GB pound 130 million pot of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits for long-term projects to provide new vehicles, modernise existing stations and build new fire stations with a community safety focus. To date over GB pound 400 million pounds has been invested in fire and rescue through PFI. These projects have included new fire stations, training facilities, vehicle fleets, community safety centres and shops, and facilities management services.
“We need modern fire stations based at the heart of our communities that can welcome the public as well as keeping them safe and provide better working conditions for male and female firefighters,” said Mr Dhanda. “That’s why we’ve already invested over GB pound 400m through PFI on schemes that bring fire stations into the 21st Century through new stations, equipment, training facilities and safety centres.
The minister has also announced GB pound 80 million of funding over three years for supporting fire and rescue services with specialist resilience equipment. A key part of the resilience investment are units for mass decontamination, high volume pumping, urban search and rescue, and detection of hazardous chemical, biological or nuclear substances.
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