Union plea to step up battle to save fire engines

Members of Humberside Fire Authority are due to discuss a list of options, which have been out to consultation with staff and external groups, on Monday.

Removing fire engines at stations at Immingham, Brough and Bridlington, emerged amongst the “most preferred” options, when the votes were combined.

Other proposals to attract high numbers of votes include Hornsea and Withernsea losing one of their on-call engines, and merging two stations in Grimsby.

But even if the fire authority eventually opt to make the maximum number of “frontline” cuts, the savings will still fall far short of the £5.6m they need to save between 2015 and 2019.

Consultees were given six geographical areas to choose from, with a number of options in each and asked to choose one.

Top of the list, scoring 233 points, is removing one of the two full-time fire-engines at Immingham West fire station, followed by scrapping one of the on-call fire engines at Brough (211 points), while in third place (190 points) is removing an on-call fire engine from Bridlington fire station (leaving one on call and one full-time engine) - all proposals which are likely to meet opposition.

Savings from the three would amount to a maximum of £1.35m, well off the total required.

The maximum number of cuts the fire authority can choose is six – as well as two so-called “combined options”, one of which would mean reducing the number of crew members on fire engines in Hull from five to four.

This won backing from external stakeholders - bodies including the NHS and town and parish councils - but not among the members of staff who took part.

The fire service got 136 “preference feedback” forms returned - nearly equally divided between members of the public and staff.

Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary Richard Walker said he’d refused to take part - as it was “like turkeys voting for Christmas.”

And he said the 22 members of the fire authority would find it difficult to come to agreement, as they were bound to try and protect their own areas. He said: “People in Hull may vote for Immingham to close because it is nowhere near them. A lot of it will come down to a parochial point of view

“This is something the public should be concerned about. The FBU will oppose all the cuts, but the public should also be doing that. The public need to start to realise that it is their fire service which is being cut. It is really only the public which can get the Government to change its course.”

The fire service says all the options will still allow existing response times to be met. But Mr Walker insisted: “People still need and want a fire station in their town or village. These cuts will see the operational response reduce - there’s no two ways about it.”

A three-month formal consultation will follow once the options have been considered. Chief Fire Officer Richard Hannigan said: “We have already made significant changes to enable us to deliver a more effective and efficient service. However, we need to do more to meet anticipated budget reductions. The efficiency options we have developed will enable us to make additional savings while maintaining our existing response standards. Staff have continued to show flexibility, dedication and a high level of professionalism throughout a challenging time for the organisation.”