Sign of the times

It seems reasonable to wonder just how far central support for our proud emergency services has fallen if they require corporate sponsorship deals merely to function adequately in their vital role of protecting the public.

If South Yorkshire's gleaming fire engines are to be reduced to little more than advertising hoardings for a local hair salon as they race towards a burning home, then it would seem there really is nothing left which is sacred. What else can be sold off for sponsorship to plug

the gaping holes in post-recession Britain? A paramedic's uniform? A policeman's helmet? A fire engine's ladder?

There is a very serious side to this, of course, as witnessed yesterday

in neighbouring West Yorkshire where fire chiefs unveiled plans to cut well over 100 jobs from their brigade. Twenty full-time firefighters, and dozens more who offer their services part-time, will be among the cull. It is safe to say they will not be the last.

West Yorkshire's chief fire officer, Simon Pilling, is budgeting for a 20m funding cut over the next four years ahead of next month's Government spending review. Across the region and beyond, the heads of every emergency service are making depressingly similar calculations. Only last week, the Police Federation warned some 40,000 police jobs could be lost nationwide.

There is no doubt that managers in every public sector organisation will have to come up with increasingly imaginative ways of making their budgets stretch further, if the safety of the public is to be maintained, but the creative use of advertising is not the most dignified way forward.