Fire authorities could save or reinvest £200m annually if rescue service spending was reduced to a national average, a far-reaching report by the country's top fireman has found.

Sir Ken Knight's independent efficiency review entitled ‘Facing the Future' found the 46 separate English fire authorities spend according the amount of funding they receive rather than the risks they face.

Official figures show the number of emergency call-outs has drastically fallen by 40% in a decade and the number of accidental deaths from fire has hit an all time low, yet budgets and staffing levels have remained largely unaffected.

According to the efficiency review, there is a significant amount of duplication in the service, with the 46 fire and rescue authorities each having their own management structures, senior leaders and operational procedures.  The paper said this suggests the potential for making large-scale savings from shared design, pooled commissioning arrangements and the joint evaluation of fire-specific products.

A financial assessment revealed fire authorities and doubled their total reserves from £200m in 2008 to more than £400m in 2012 – indicating scope for investing in spend to save type projects.

‘As a firefighter for over 40 years I know the Fire and Rescue Service in and out,' Sir Ken Knight said.

‘As I carried out this review I spoke with many services and found that there is wide spread variation in the running costs and management decisions. This presents a real opportunity to get to grips with what is happening and to save public money.'