Agenda item

(ITEM START TIME IS AT 3.45 p.m.)

To discuss the consultation on how to maintain the Fire and Rescue Services in North Wales and thereafter questions on local coverage.

(AN INVITATION HAS BEEN EXTENDED TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL IN RESPECT OF THIS ITEM)

The Chair welcomed Mr. Simon Smith, Chief Fire Officer and Mr. Kevin Roberts, Senior Operations Manager from the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service.  He also welcomed  Councillor Peter Lewis, Deputy Chair of the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service to the meeting.  The Chair also welcomed Councillor Llinos Jones, Mayor of the Llangefni Town Council and Councillor Margaret Thomas. He further noted that all Members of the County Council had been invited to attend the meeting in respect of this item.

A presentation was received by the representatives from the North Wales Fire and Rescue Service on the consultation process currently undertaken on the draft Improvement Objectives 2015/16 financial year.  The presentation highlighted the following matters :-

·           The running costs of the Fire and Rescue Service in North Wales is around £32m – the equivalent of £46 per year for every North Wales resident;

·           The Fire and Rescue Service are intending incorporating a 3 year financial strategy to freeze the budget.  Savings of £3m, 10% of the budget has been achieved by the Fire Service over the last 5 years;

·           The objective is to carry on helping to keep people safe from fire in their homes with the Fire and Rescue Service  visiting homes and providing fire alarms free of charge;

·           The Fire and Rescue Service attend schools to educate children of the dangers associated with fires;

·           Fire incidents in North Wales has seen a decrease of 50%;

A question and answer session was afforded and the following comments and concerns were presented together with questions from representatives from the Llangefni Town Council :-

·           Fire Incident at Fish and Chips Shop, Llangefni

·      Calls for a fully manned fire station at Llangefni should be considered to protect the Town which has an industrial estate, council buildings and an area of rural villages in the vicinity.  The Fire & Rescue Service responded that there are 10 people on the retained crew at Llangefni and half of which had to leave the area of Llangefni on the day of the fire to their primary place of employment.  There are never been a fully manned fire station at Llangefni. The costs attached to providing a fully manned fire station would be an unrealistic expectation.  If a Fire Station similar to Holyhead Fire Station which has a ‘day crewing’ and is fully manned during the day and has a status of retained crew during the night was considered for the town of Llangefni the cost to the Fire Authority would be around £750k per year. 

·      20 minutes for the Fire Service to arrive at the scene of the fire.  The Fire & Rescue Service responded that the aims of the Fire Service are to get the nearest appliance to the incident as soon as possible.  There is no longer a Home Office recommended attendance time attached to attending a fire.  Up to 10 years ago the fire stations on Anglesey were categorised on risk basis. Holyhead was categorised as ‘C risk’ which was one appliance to attend a fire within 10 minutes, therefore that is why a full time fire crew exist at Holyhead.  The rest of the Island was categorised as a ‘D risk’ which is one appliance to attend a fire within 20 minutes.

• Recruitment of Fire Fighters

·      Questions regarding the process by the Fire and Rescue Service in recruiting Fire Fighters.  The Fire and Rescue Service responded they have incorporated much different recruitment process over the years i.e. contacting employers, pan wales recruitment procedure and social media.   It was noted that recruitment of Fire Fighters is a national concern.

The Scrutiny Office referred to the questionnaire on the consultation document circulated to the Members.  He asked Members to kindly respond to the documentation. He further stated that the Group Leaders will form a separate official response to the consultation on behalf of the County Council.

The Chair thanked the representatives from the North Wales Fire and Rescue Services for attending the meeting and to all Members of the County Council for their contribution to this item.  He also thanked the representatives from the Llangefni Town Council for their contribution.

RESOLVED to accept the report and the comments as noted above.

ACTION : As noted above.