Fire Authority carries proposals to meet Government grant reduction
Devon & Somerset Fire & Rescue Authority members voted to carry all the proposals put to them by Service Officers to meet a significant Government grant reduction on 10 July at the Service Headquarters in Exeter.
Three fire engines will be cut from full-time to on-call crews in Plymouth following the proposals the Fire Service described as aimed at providing "an affordable and effective service, without removing fire stations, fire engines or making compulsory redundancies."
The changes to be implemented include:
• Increasing the Service’s work in the community to prevent fires
• Changing the way some fire engines are crewed, by providing 24-hour emergency response with ‘on- call’ Firefighters
The Service is also reducing support staff numbers and this year plans to reduce numbers by around 40 posts (13% of the total) through a combination of deleting vacancies, ending some fixed-term contracts and voluntary redundancy.
In addition, senior posts have also been reduced. From 2010, the Chief Fire Officer has reduced the Senior Management Board from nine directors to four.
The Service has said it will now be working with staff to shape the implementation of the proposals.
For a full list of the proposals carried click here.
Following yesterday's announcement, Fire Brigades Union Devon and Somerset executive member for the South West and former Somerset firefighter, Tam McFarlane, has voiced his disapproval of the proposals saying: “Today was a bad day for the fire and rescue service, a bad day for local people and a bad day for democracy.
“It’s clear that those who met today weren’t there to represent the views of their constituents or the fire and rescue service, but to balance budgets and implement cuts.
“The consultation process they ran was clearly a sham. Union members had collected over 27,000 signatures from the public against these cuts, yet still they were pushed through. These cuts do not have the support of either the public or professionals in the fire and rescue service.
“Quite simply, these changes will put lives at risk and we will continue to work with local people, organisations and businesses to make sure that public safety is put first.”
FBU Brigade Chair Bob Walker said: “Our members are furious at these cuts have been put through in this manner.
“The cuts will result in full-time cover being down-graded at many stations across Devon and Somerset with the loss of around 149 front-line posts.”
The union held a lobby of local people to voice their concerns at the meeting.
Chief Fire Officer Lee Howell said earlier this month: “The savings we need to make are significant, and following the Spending Review announcement last week and Sir Ken Knight’s review of efficiencies in Fire and Rescue Services, we are clearer about the level of further reductions in the near future. We have made savings already by looking at how we do things more efficiently as an organisation. We don’t have the option of staying as we are - we need to make changes in order to maintain a sustainable and effective service to the community.
“We need to live within our means and whilst I would rather not be taking out this amount of money from the Service, in reality we don’t have any control over the funding allocated to us by Government. I, and the Chairman, will continue to lobby Government to ensure a fairer settlement for the future but we have to face the reality of today.”
