£100,000 spent on PPE for firefighters after emergency cash doled out to help brigades cope with coronavirus

Fire services in Tyne and Wear and County Durham are in line for almost £400,000 to help them cope with the impact of COVID-19.

As well as personal protective equipment (PPE), the money is also likely to go towards cover for staff who are ill or forced to self-isolate because of the virus.

A spokesman for the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) said the cash would help it keep up with the “additional costs of responding to the COVID-19 pandemic’.

“Almost £100,000 has been spent on the additional PPE required by our staff to deal with the virus and who continue to operate a full fire and emergency service,” the brigade added.

“We have also established a logistics cell which is now up and running to help provide a range of services that will help the most vulnerable in our communities.

“It is working closely with our public sector partners as co-ordinated and directed by our Local Resilience Forum.”

TWFRS also raised the prospect of extra staff being needed and added more government cash may be needed as the lockdown continues ‘to meet all of our increased costs.

Tyne and Wear’s chief fire officer, Chris Lowther, has also praised former firefighters who had answered a call to return to work during the virus crisis.

Government ‘emergency funding’ confirmed this on March 30 allocated TWFRS £273,779.

County Durham and Darlington Fire and Rescue Authority has been promised £125,448.

Bosses at the authority said the money could go towards extra costs including:

:: Extra shifts by firefighters to cover for others self-isolating or sick due to coronavirus

:: PPE for front line staff

:: Additional cleaning and decontamination supplies

:: Home working software and equipment for support staff

The Government Budget in March included a £5billion ‘COVID-19 fund’, of which £1.6billion was to be directed to local council and fire authorities.

The North East is set to receive more than £130million under this scheme.

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