01/07/2011 - Permalink

Joint working between council and fire service saves time and money

Related topics: Community / Democracy

A ground breaking initiative by Shropshire Council and the county’s fire authority will cut costs, improve efficiency and potentially save jobs.

One of the main messages from the Government has been that public services should share resources whenever possible to save money – and Shropshire is ahead of the game after months of talks between the council and fire authority.

The first initiative to come from the discussions will see Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service joining the Shropshire Council’s wide area network, saving the service thousands of pounds.  Upgrading computer networks is a major cost for any organisation, so by sharing the council’s system the fire service is making a substantial saving.

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for IT, Councillor Martin Taylor-Smith, said:

“We have been talking to the fire service for some time about this, and I think it’s a fantastic example of public services working together to make major efficiency savings.  The council has an extremely robust and resilient wide area network, and the fire service was in the position of needing to upgrade theirs, so why not share and allow the fire service to use that money in other ways?”

Council leader, Keith Barrow, said:

“This is a really ground breaking project and I hope it will be the first of many examples of joint working between public services in Shropshire.  The public deserve the best possible service, and the more money we can save behind the scenes with initiatives like this, the greater chance we have of securing that quality of service in the future.”

Chief Fire Officer Paul Raymond agreed that by sharing Shropshire Council’s wide area network he could protect the front line:

“The fire service is facing significant cuts to its income.  We already outsource most of our back office functions, so the opportunity to outsource this IT service to one of our most trusted partners makes sense financially and organisationally.  The savings we make could save a number of front line jobs.”