Have your say on how Bedfordshire Fire & Rescue spends its money

The Beds Fire and Rescue Service has launched a consultation survey giving people a chance to have their say how it spends its money.

This includes whether funds should be spent on existing fire stations and new buildings such as a new training centre.

Every year Bedfordshire Fire and Rescue is required to consult with the public about its budget proposals and wants to hear people’s thoughts on proposals for its key strategy – known as the Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP).The approach to community risk management planning is based on the National Fire Standard for CRMP and the budget setting process is set out in the current Community Risk Management Plan.After extensive community and staff engagement, risk assessment, and financial analysis the fire service proposes issuing a new mission statement with six new strategic commitments.

A spokesman said: “As a result of all our work so far, we know we need to be more prepared for the impact of climate change, and our Emergency Cover Review work is telling us we need to invest in our fire stations and other buildings such as our training centre and vehicle workshops to improve how we respond to emergencies, reduce energy costs and our carbon footprint while enabling closer collaboration with our partners such as the police and ambulance service.

"This involves investing in new locations and also bringing some of our existing buildings up to a better standard.“This survey asks what you think and we would like to hear about any suggestions you may have to help us.”A link to the online survey can be found here .