Extra £400,000 to help Hartlepool's firefighters through coronavirus crisis

The government cash has come from an emergency funding pot being shared between councils and fire and rescue authorities.

In March, the government announced an initial £1.6billion of additional funding for all local government sectors to help them respond to Covid-19, which was followed up by a further £1.6billion in April.

Hartlepool council leader Shane Moore said he had to give “credit where credit is due” and praised the Government for listening to cash-strapped authorities.

The latest allocations of funding have now been revealed, with Cleveland Fire Brigade receiving an additional £422,389, following the £164,936 from the first tranche of funding.

This takes the total received to £587,325 after the brigade received more than double the amount of funding from the second pot compared to the first .

Cleveland Fire chiefs welcomed the move and said it will be used to help operational response provision remain effective and support other public service responses.

Chief Fire Officer Ian Hayton said: “Cleveland Fire Authority welcomes the additional funding from Government to help us to continue to ensure that our operational response provision remains resilient and effective.

“[It will ensure] that we support the broader public sector response to the pandemic, particularly in relation to supporting local authorities and NHS and Ambulance Trusts whose services are subject to exceptionally high levels of demand; and we maintain the highest standards possible in regard to the health, safety and welfare of all its staff.

“The funding will undoubtedly enable us to offset some of the additional costs in meeting this unprecedented challenge”.

Local Government Secretary Robert Jenrick, who announced the £3.2billion of ‘emergency funding’ for councils and fire and rescue authorities across the country, said the funds are to help the organisations deal with pressures from the coronavirus pandemic.

The government has confirmed the funding will not be ring fenced, recognising councils and fire authorities are the best placed to decide how to meet pressures in their local areas.

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