MERSEYSIDE’S chief fire officer says he “cannot rule out” further station closures as the authority is hit by further Government cuts.

Funding for the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority will be cut by £3.3million – or 5% - in a single year, making it almost the worst hit fire authority in England.

This equates to a cut of more than £5 per dwelling in Merseyside and brings the total savings required to be made by the authority over two years to nearly £7 million.

This is nearly double the average reduction in spending power in 2015/16 for all directly funded fire and rescue authorities, which is 3.2%.

Merseyside’s funding cut is much worse than most other authorities and is, for example, almost treble that of Shropshire.

While the authority had already expected major reductions in funding, the Government has increased the headline grant cuts even more since indicative figures issued last year.

Based on these announcements, the authority may need to find extra savings of a further £500,000 as it sets its budget in February next year.

Chief fire office Dan Stephens said: “While harsh cuts were expected and we have already planned a programme of station mergers and closures to tackle the budget pressures, the additional cuts are very disappointing indeed.

“I cannot rule out further station closures especially as we are facing a worsening position for public finances beyond the next election.

“This will undoubtedly have a negative impact on response times which directly impacts on public safety.” 

Councillor Dave Hanratty, chair of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Authority, said: “I am bitterly disappointed that this Tory-led Government are targeting the Fire and Rescue Service in such a politically ideological way.

“These further cuts will impact on the safety of Merseyside residents and visitors to the area. Yet again we have been hit with the highest cuts in the country.

“We have already seen massive reductions in our service locally since 2010, and I am deeply concerned about the effect this will have on our frontline services the public rightly expect, with less firefighters, less fire appliances and less fire stations to protect our communities in the future.

“I would call on this Government to halt any further cuts to the emergency services until they have undertaken a fundamental review and risk assessment of the impact these cuts will have on our ability to deliver an effective, responsive emergency service, especially in light of the increasing terrorist threat in the country and the effect these cuts will have on our National Resilience.

 “This Government are playing politics with people’s safety and unduly placing people’s lives at risk with an ever reducing Fire and Rescue Service capability and longer response times. This is placing our communities at greater risk and is wholly irresponsible.”