DEVON and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service has published its recommendations on how its services should be delivered in the future, following last year’s public consultation exercise.
At its September meeting Crediton Town Council was one of those locally to oppose the proposed reduction in service from Crediton Fire Station.
At the meeting Devon County Councillor Nick Way said he had recently been elected to the Fire Authority and gave an overview of the current situation and the proposed changes.
He explained that primarily the changes were being done to save the authority money.
He explained that Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service wanted to reduce the level of service by closing some of the fire stations in the area and reducing the number of vehicles.
He said that by doing this they will be able to increase their preventative work.
He added that they maintain that the level of incidents have decreased considerably over the years, which they believe is due to increased fire legislation, modern building techniques, etc.
In Crediton, he said the Service intended to reduce the pumps by one.
He told the meeting that currently there were two pumps at Crediton, one standard and one fast response vehicle, which is slightly smaller and can be crewed more easily.
Mr Way added that Crediton also had a support vehicle which is used across the two counties.
OBJECTION REASONS
Crediton Town Council objected to the proposed changes to service delivery within Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service for the following reasons:
• the loss of equipment in Crediton
• the loss of staff and experience within Crediton
• given the number of incidents responded to and given the fact that staffing issues have been resolved, it is a much-needed and invaluable service
• to lose a second appliance will mark a detrimental reduction in the service
• Crediton and Mid Devon have significant number of thatched properties and a growing population
• the number of A377 accidents supports the need to retain the existing service
• as a Town Council, we recognise the value of our retained firefighters
• they are a very necessary first responder
• how much is a life worth?
FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
Crediton Town Council made a Freedom of Information Act 2000 request for information to Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Service.
The results revealed that during the period from July 29, 2018 to July 29, 2019, Crediton Fire Station crews responded to 98 incidents and sent 102 appliances, of which 93 made it to the scene of 89 incidents.
The results showed that the other calls/appliances were stood down/turned back, before getting to the scene.
In addition, the results revealed that 73 appliances from other stations were mobilised to 66 incidents of which 46 appliances made it to 44 incidents. For 13 of the incidents, Crediton crews didn’t get mobilised when the incidents were also in Crediton station ground area.
The results also found that the Crediton appliances had a 96 per cent and seven per cent availability (rounded) with the pump being unavailable for lack of crew or been defective. The Crediton appliances were also stood down for 22 incidents.
RESPONSES
During the consultation, DSFRS held 27 drop-in sessions – attended by nearly 2,000 people. In total, 3,818 responses were received: 3,232 completed questionnaires, 205 written submissions and 381 email responses. In addition, five petitions were submitted with a total of 43,644 signatures.
Lee Howell, Chief Fire Officer, said: “Last summer we consulted on a number of options for change. We have also recently received Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Service (HMICFRS) report which highlighted areas where we need to improve.
“After reflecting on staff suggestions, public feedback and considering how we need to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the Service, we have recommended a balanced set of proposals for consideration by the Fire Authority.
“We are presenting a significant investment in our ‘on call’ staff which will directly improve the availability of our fire engines.
“At the same time, we are suggesting closure of one fire station (Budleigh Salterton), relocation of another (Topsham) as well as removal of a number of low activity fire engines.
MEETING ON FRIDAY
“Importantly, we are confident that we can secure alternative ways of working with our whole time staff which will allow us to undertake significantly more prevention and protection activity which will also make communities safer.”
The changes that the Service is recommending for approval by the Devon and Somerset Fire and Rescue Authority at its meeting on Friday, January 10, are to:
a) Defer the decision to implement day crewing at Barnstaple, Exmouth and Paignton subject to a revised 24/7 crewing model being agreed with the Fire Brigades Union, including roving appliances, before the end of the 2019/20 financial year.
b) Close Budleigh Salterton fire station and allow affected firefighters to respond from Exmouth fire station.
c) Relocate Topsham fire station to Service Headquarters (Clyst St George) and relocate one of the fire engines to Middlemoor fire station (both fire engines to be relocated to Service Headquarters until an on-call crew can be established at Middlemoor).
d) Remove the third fire engines from Bridgwater, Taunton, Torquay and Yeovil.
e) Remove the second fire engines from Crediton, Lynton, Martock and Totnes.
f) Introduce variable fire engine availability dependent on risk.