The coalition has today told UK fire services they no longer need to use asset management strategies or follow RICS best practice.

In a bid to devolve powers to fire services, it has made several changes to its National Framework, which forces fire services to be run via regional management boards and gives them an asset management obligation.

In practice, this means that fire and rescue authorities no longer need an asset strategy in place that “reflects asset management guidance issued by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors or the Department for Communities and Local Government”.

Fire Minister Bob Neill said he was keen to cut the amount of red tape facing fire services.

“Services can be trusted to manage their own estates,” he said. “We have fantastic fire and rescue services in this country and it’s time we stopped tying them up in red tape and give them more freedom to serve their communities. We rely on our firefighters to keep us safe not waste resources on bureaucracy.

“Fire and rescue services are mature enough and professional enough to make their own decisions and to work together to make continuous improvements. I know the sector is keen to step up and show that they are more than capable of supporting their own.”

The government says it will now only intervene in the delivery of fire services in extreme cases.

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