Outgoing fire chief worried about service funding

An outgoing fire chief has said he is worried about the level of funding his service is receiving.

Wayne Bowcock, who has led the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) since 2021, will retire in March following a 33-year career.

He said it was struggling to invest in the areas it needed to after delivering £2.4m of cuts over the last 10 years.

"We really struggle to continue to invest, even in small ways, to make sure that we can deliver the services that we should be delivering to the standards we should be delivering them to the public," Bowcock said.

RBFRS said it was still affected by a settlement granted for 2022/23, which was an increase of just 0.97% on what it had received previously, and led to it receiving an extra £101,000.

As a result it said it was "continually looking at how the service provided to the public can be more efficient and effective".

Bowcock said retiring was a "difficult decision" but felt it was the right thing for himself and a "new chapter" for the service.

"My career path was always going to be service, I think," he said.

"It was either the military or public services and at 19 I joined Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service and I was very lucky to get in on my first attempt against a lot of applicants.

"I started my career very young. When I look back at it now I think: 'Gordon Bennett, I don't know anything'."

But he said he was proud of the way his staff in Berkshire "focus on the job and delivering services".

"In the public's darkest hour and an individual's darkest time, the fire and rescue service, along with other emergency services, turn up and we make a situation better hopefully or we ease someone's suffering," Bowcock said.

"To be part of that for such a long time and to able to lead people to have that public service ethos is a great privilege."