Issue - meetings

At Council on 12 October, the authority’s response to the Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service consultation was referred to the Scrutiny Commission.

A copy of the Council minute and the consultation document is attached for your information.

Following referral of this item to the Scrutiny Commission by Council, members were presented with a suggested response based on the resolution of Council. Some members felt that the response should be stronger to reflect the serious concerns of the residents of Hinckley, and others felt that the response was appropriate given that some areas of the Borough were not being adversely affected. Some minor adjustments were suggested to the wording and subsequently Councillor Bill requested an adjournment to discuss the wording. The meeting adjourned at 6.54pm.

Upon reconvening at 6.58pm, it was moved by Councillor Nichols and seconded by Councillor Bill that the following be submitted as a response to the consultation, which upon being put to the vote was CARRIED:

“Hinckley and Bosworth Borough Council welcomes the opportunity to respond to consultation from the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service on its Integrated Risk Management Plan: ‘Towards 2020’.

We appreciate the time give to use by Steve Lunn at the Council meeting on 12 October, his explanation of the case for the proposals and his response to questions from elected members.

The Council values very highly the services and protection provided by Leicestershire Fire & Rescue Service across the county, and particularly to the people of Hinckley & Bosworth, who are served not just from Hinckley Fire Station, but also from the neighbouring station at Coalville. We recognise also the financial pressures faced by the Fire & Rescue Service, as the Council faces very similar pressures, to which we have responded without negative impact on the public.

We express serious concerns over the planned reduction in emergency cover, in particular the removal of a crewed fire engine at Hinckley. We acknowledge the reassurances given in the presentation and in the consultation documentation and understand the direction being taken. However, those assurances must be delivered in practice to ensure the continued safety of local people. To ensure that this happens, we would also request an annual update of response times and incidents to the Scrutiny Commission”.

It was unanimously

RESOLVED – the above be submitted as the Council’s response to the consultation.

This item is included at the request of a number of members. The Deputy Chief Fire Officer will be in attendance.

Following a request for this item by Councillor Bray and signed by five further councillors, Mr Lunn, Deputy Chief Fire Officer, attended the meeting to present information on the consultation being undertaken by the Fire & Rescue Service in relation to proposed cuts. During discussion following the presentation, the following points were raised:

·         The high attendance at the consultation event held at Hinckley Fire Station

·         Concern for Fire & Rescue Service staff at risk of redundancy

·         The difficulties of providing a service with fewer staff

·         The continued reduction in emergencies over the last ten years and the risk that there would come a time when numbers could reduce no further

·         The importance of the public responding to the consultation

·         The advances in technology having gone some way to improve services and offset cuts

·         The importance of education, particularly in schools, in improving fire safety.

Mr Lunn was thanked for his presentation and for providing an exceptional service with frontline staff over many years.

In response to questions raised and points made, Mr Lunn provided the following responses:

·         A co-ordination centre had been established following the 2001 attack on the World Trade Centre to enable mobilisation of resources from across the country

·         The potential loss of 80 part time staff and eight full time would be in addition to the 80 jobs cut as part of last year’s consultation and reorganisation

·         Where possible, staff would be redeployed rather than made redundant

·         Service standards of a vehicle (and in most cases more than one) would be in attendance at an emergency in under ten minutes.

Members felt it important to note that, whilst some stations were losing one of their two fire engines which was being replaced with a fast response vehicle, Hinckley was losing one which would not be replaced. Concern was expressed and Mr Lunn agreed to feed it back as part of the consultation.

Councillor Bray suggested that, in addition to encourage the public to respond and councillors responding as individuals, the Council should provide a response to the consultation. Seconded by Councillor Bill, Councillor Bray proposed the following MOTION:

“(a)      This Council expresses serious concern about the severe cuts to funding of our emergency services;

(b)        This Council resolves to respond to the Combined Fire Authority’s consultation by expressing serious concerns over planning reductions in emergency cover including closure of two stations and removal of 11 fire engines including on call engines at Hinckley and Coalville.”

Councillor Bray along with six further members stood to request that voting be recorded on this motion.

Councillor Morrell requested a five-minute adjournment at this juncture. The meeting therefore adjourned at 8.00pm.

The meeting reconvened at 8.07pm.

Councillor Morrell, seconded by Councillor Bessant, proposed an AMENDMENT to the motion that matter be referred to the Scrutiny Commission to agree the exact wording of the Council’s response to the consultation. The amendment was supported and the motion, as amended, was put to the vote.

Councillors Allen, Bessant, Bill, Boothby, Bray, Camamile, Cartwright,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 204