Following on from the successful Expression of Interest in November 2005, Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority has announced that it has been successful in its bid for £46m of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) credits. The credits will support the building of seven new fire stations and the provision of three response bases in the county.
This is the largest investment in facilities the Staffordshire Service has ever seen. (The £46m investment is at current prices – it actually represents a £90m investment by government over the next 25 years). Stoke on Trent and Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Authority was the first of five authorities invited to submit for government support last year and has received over a third of the £125m of credits allocated by government. The £46m will be paid in stages over the next 25 years following completion of building works on the site of thefirst new station, expected in early 2009.
CFO Alan Doig said: “This is tremendous news for Staffordshire, with an unprecedented level of investment in our service which will make a huge difference in developing community safety within the county and the service we are able to deliver to people living and working in Staffordshire.” Fire and Rescue Authority Chairman Derek Davis added: “The Fire and Rescue Authority fully endorses this investment programme which will make a huge difference to developing the service’s capacity to deliver improved safety into the 21st Century and beyond.”
The PFI support will fund the development of multi-purpose community fire safety facilities that sit at the heart of the community and provide state of the art facilities for staff and the local area. These new facilities willreplace stations that date from 1937 and are both dated in design and unsuitable for staff development and community engagement. Two of the seven stations will be on completely new sites in areas of greater demand and risk. The outline planning consent for these sites has already been given and they will head the priority list for thedevelopments. Councillor Rex Roberts, IADS Programme Board Chairman, commented: “The announcement is the result of a great deal of hard work over the last 18 months with the programme board submitting a first class business case to enable these exciting developments to now move forward.”
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