There is one Notice of Motion for consideration by Council.

NOTICE OF MOTION

Proposed by Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes and seconded by Councillor RI Matthews.

Potential Combination of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service/Resource at Hereford Fire Station

On 3 October 2013 the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority considered a report that sought approval for the Chief Fire Officer to progress discussions with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service regarding future options for combination. The Authority resolved that the matter be deferred until the next meeting of the Fire and Rescue Authority.

This motion proposes that this Council does not support a merger of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service with Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service.  A combined organisation would stretch from the Welsh Borders to Northamptonshire, resulting in Herefordshire having even less influence than it does at present – an unwelcome democratic deficit.

This Council therefore resolves to inform Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority that, whilst we would welcome closer collaboration with any neighbouring Fire and Rescue Service, we totally oppose any merger because of the obvious deleterious impact on the people we represent.

Also on 3 October 2013 the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority agreed that the draft Community Risk Management Plan 2014-2020 be approved for consultation.

This motion proposes that this Council does not support the proposed reduction of staff or vehicles at the Hereford Fire Station for the following reasons: Hereford City is the only 24 hour station in the County; as a standalone station it is isolated from any other 24 hour support.  Herefordshire covers an area larger than Worcestershire but relies on part time or retained fire fighters.

Worcester Fire Station, however, is supported by Kidderminster, Redditch, Bromsgrove whole time cover with additional back up from Droitwich, Evesham and Malvern. 

Herefordshire is further disadvantaged by the poor road infrastructure and lack of motorways.  Any reduction in personnel would seriously affect the response times to the life threatening road traffic accidents and call outs to flooding incidents in this County. 

This Council therefore resolves to inform Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Authority that it opposes the reduction in staff, pumps or equipment at Hereford Fire Station.

(Councillors J Hardwick and Brig P Jones CBE declared an interest)

Potential Combination of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service/Resource at Hereford Fire Station

In accordance with paragraph 4.16.17 of the Constitution, the Notice of Motion, moved by Councillor MD Lloyd-Hayes and seconded by Councillor WLS Bowen was amended as follows:

‘This Authority is concerned by proposals currently under consultation regarding a merger of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service with Warwickshire FRA. Such a combined Authority stretching from the Welsh Borders to Northamptonshire, may result in Herefordshire having even less influence than it does at present – an unwelcome democratic deficit.

This Authority whilst welcoming closer collaboration with any neighbouring Fire and Rescue Authority would require assurance that any merger would not have a deleterious impact on the people we represent.

In addition, this Authority has concerns about a proposed reduction of staff or vehicles at the Hereford Fire Station for the following reasons: Hereford City is the only 24 hour station in the County; as a standalone station it is isolated from any other 24 hour support.  Herefordshire covers an area larger than Worcestershire but relies on part time or retained fire fighters.

Worcester Fire Station, however, is supported by Kidderminster, Redditch, Bromsgrove whole time cover with additional back up from Droitwich, Evesham and Malvern. 

Herefordshire is further disadvantaged by the current road infrastructure and lack of motorways.  Any reduction in personnel could seriously affect the response times to the life threatening road traffic accidents and call outs to flooding incidents in this County: therefore this Authority whilst understanding the financial pressures facing all public bodies at this time would not support a reduction in staff, pumps or equipment at Hereford Fire Station without significant assurance of how service levels will be maintained in the county.

In order to inform the development of the  response to this consultation which closes on 10 January, this Council resolves to request that the General Overview & Scrutiny Committee consider the impacts of the proposals to inform the response that Full Council will submit’.

Councillor MD Lloyd Hayes addressed Council and made the following points:

·         That whilst the issues were addressed in the Hereford and Worcester Fire Authority’s Community Risk Management Plan, this was a complex document to digest within the allotted 12 week consultation period.

·         That forced austerity cuts were taking their toll and the Fire and Rescue Service, an already lean organisation, was being asked to make savings of £4.7m over the next 2 years.  These cuts would inevitably have an impact on front line services.

·         That the Fire Authority was a statutory body with a core function of responding to fires.  Since the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, fire fighters were required to respond to emergencies, road traffic accidents, chemical spills and increasingly to flooding as a result of unpredictable weather. Civil unrest and terrorism threats required specific training for the incident response unit vehicle crews, together with training for the Swift Water Technicians for water based emergency calls.

·         There were full time crews in Redditch, Bromsgrove and Kidderminster, allowing the stations to support each other.  There were also day crews at Evesham, Droitwich and Malvern.  Hereford was relatively isolated, and expected to serve the County with the support of part time or retained fire stations and had to use an inferior road network with over 6,000 potholes.

During the ensuing debate, the following points were made:

·         A Member pointed out that there was a great deal of concern regarding the concept of merging with another Fire Authority, and suggested that consideration be given to an alliance between Authorities, in the same way that the Police force had achieved.

·         That the Fire Authority was an independent organisation and it was not within the purview of this Council to suggest how it should make necessary budget cuts.   That the Authority had to achieve budget savings of £4.7m was not disputed but, at this juncture, no decision had yet been taken as to how this should be achieved.

·         That fire-fighters in Hereford were called out to car accidents more often than they were to fires, and whilst only one response vehicle might attend an accident, a vehicle attending a fire would only do so with backup.  Retained fire-fighters could find it hard to continue in their roles as most would not be in a position to take more time off work.

·         That consideration should be given to the geography of the County as part of the consultation exercise. The rural and outlying areas were not well represented as weight was being given to the populations centres under the Fire Authorities remit.

·         That cuts had already been made to the service, which was one of the lowest funded in the country.  Residents in rural areas were more vulnerable to longer response times, and Kingspan, which was one of the top 15 employers in the County, could be put at risk should Kingsland station close.

·         That the Chief Fire Officer had been invited to address a public meeting in Ross-on-wye.

·         That flooding was undoubtedly one of the major issues for the Service, which would be severely stretched should there be a severe outbreak of floods as had happened in 2007.

·         That it was not clear to a Member what the value would be of requesting the General Overview & Scrutiny Committee to consider the consultation document, as the matter was already being dealt with by the professionals in the field.

·         A Member said that the consultation document was seen as off putting.  It was unclear that there were three proposals in the document, all of which would need to be implemented in order to ensure that savings were achieved.  Stations across the County would be put at threat and there was concern that local communities would be put at additional risk as the proposals did not give consideration to the needs of rural areas.

RESOLVED UNANIMOUSLY:  That in relation to the possible combination of the Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service and the Warwickshire Fire and Rescue service and proposals in the Community Risk Management Plan the General Overview & Scrutiny Committee be requested to consider the impact of the proposals to inform the response that Full Council will submit.