Additional money for fire brigade

Cornwall's fire brigade is to receive more than £1m in extra funding to help improve facilities at stations in the county over the next two years.

A total of £1,339,782 is to be put into the county's pot as part of a £78m government package to upgrade fire services across England.

The money can be used to provide extra facilities and improve buildings.

It can also be used to provide extra facilities for those who work on fire prevention initiatives.

Year-on-year saving

An extra £618,252 has been allocated for 2009/2010 and an additional £721,529 for the following 12-month period.

A spokeswoman for Cornwall County Council said: "The grant is a capital grant which means that it must be used for buildings, vehicles, equipment etc and cannot be used to support the ongoing revenue budget.

"The fire brigade's capital programme is around £1.7m per year.

"This is all for vehicle and equipment replacement because our building stock is within a PFI scheme and we therefore do not need any capital for buildings.

"The cost of financing an annual programme of £1.7m is around £170k per year on a rolling basis.

"The allocation of £618k in 2009/10 reduces the cost of financing the £1.7m programme by about £60,000 per year - this therefore is the year-on-year saving to us.

"The £720k grant in 2010/11 will reduce the finance needed for vehicle and equipment replacement by £70,000 per year."