Immediate Release – 9th June 2011

Give local people a real say in how their Fire & Rescue Service is Run

The Fire Brigades Union have welcomed the opportunity for IW councillors to debate and reverse the decision to transfer the Island’s emergency 999 fire control room to Surrey Fire and Rescue Service.

Newport East Councillor Geoff Lumley has tabled the following motion to the full council to be held at County Hall next week – Wednesday 15th June:

Council resolves, in the light of increasing public concern, to reverse the 2011 Budget decision and subsequent delegated decision (15/11) to transfer the IW Fire Control service to Surrey Fire & Rescue Service. Further it agrees that any future alternative provision of this service must be Island based.

The delegated decision to transfer the Island’s emergency fire control centre, based in Newport, was taken by Cllr Barry Abraham who, despite several invites, did not consult with the FBU who represent the views of IW firefighters and emergency control staff.

That decision, if implemented would see Island council tax payers subsidising Surrey county council by at least £216,000 every year so that emergency 999 calls can be answered and managed some 80 miles from the Island, with the loss of vital local knowledge and no guarantees of improved service to the Island’s residents, businesses and visitors.

FBU Regional Control Rep Paul Watts said “The IW FBU applaud the efforts of Cllr. Lumely in gaining sufficient support for the motion from eleven other councillors and hope that all Councillors give careful consideration which way their local constituents would wish them to vote on Wednesda

“It’s been less than a year since the Conservative Minister Bob Neil addressed the National Fire Conference and said “Our three priorities will be in order of priority, one, localism, and we’ll weave that into everything we do. The second is localism, and the third is, you’ve guessed it localism.” He went on to say “Activity should take place at the most local level possible to give people a real say in what happens in their area”

“We hope that members of the conservative group will do the right thing for their constituents and reverse this flawed decision that has serious consequences for IW residents, businesses and visitors should it proceed. This will give local people an opportunity to have a real say in how their Fire & Rescue Service is run.

“This could be a final chance for elected and accountable councillors to draw back from the edge of a disaster that will see the Island with an inferior 999 emergency fire control service. We hope they do not waste it.’

ENDS

Press Contacts

Paul Watts   FBU Regional Control Official 07917 065869

Pete Mawhood  FBU Brigade Chair    07775 597127

Matt Sainsbury  FBU Brigade Secretary  07917 065866

Ricky Matthews  FBU Regional Secretary  07917 065863

Related downloads:

Download BOB NEILL SPEECH TO FRS HARROGATE TUESDAY 29th JUNE 2010 as PDF

An invite to Councillor Barry Abraham was made by IOW FBU Officials last week and was repeated during the Ian Mac show on Vectis Radio but has not been responded to.

Pete Mawhood, IOW FBU Chair, said “Regrettably Councillor Abraham has failed to respond and once again we extend the invite to him and any other Councillors who wish to be briefed about our concerns. We are extremely disappointed that such a critical decision will be made without input from our members”.

During the past 24 hours Cllr. Abraham received the current 1,800 plus signatories of the ongoing petition to ‘Save the isle of Wight Fire Control Centre’, including 100 plus signatories from serving Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service firefighters (wholetime, retained and control), officers and civilian staff.

Paul Watts, FBU Regional Control Rep, said ‘This reflects the deeply held concerns within the IOW Fire Service at the prospect of the moving the Fire Control to the mainland and FBU members are strongly opposed to the plan. They have not had the opportunity to formally comment on the proposals nor have their views been sought by senior managers or the IOW Council’.

He added ‘The loss of vital local knowledge could mean a delay to the mobilisation of fire appliances in response to emergencies. It goes without saying that any delay due to uncertainty could, in a critical situation, have life-threatening consequences’.

Ends

Notes for Editors:

The Isle of Wight Council are proposing to close the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre in Newport, Isle of Wight, with the calls answered by the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Control (Reigate, Surrey).

Councillors were only given twenty-four hours notice of the additional items on the agenda for the Full Council meeting, including the issue of the Island’s Fire Control Centre back in September 2010.

The Outline Business Case (September 2010) and Full Business Case (March 2011) were published and no consultation with island residents or businesses has taken place.

The latest delegated decision report (published Friday 15 April 2011) states that the cutover date for transfer to Fire Control Centre in Reigate, Surrey is 30 September 2011. The publication gave ten days for Councillors to comment, however, with two weekends and two bank holidays there are only 4 working days to comment in reality.

Fire Service Modernisation debated by the Economy and Environment Scrutiny Panel, 27 April 2011:

http://ventnorblog.com/2011/04/27/fire-service-modernisation-to-be-debated-by-economy-and-environment-scrutiny-panel/

Revised date for cutover August 2011. Permanent transfer September 2011

April media interview with the FBU:

http://ventnorblog.com/2011/04/26/your-last-chance-to-comment-on-fire-control-moving-to-surrey-podcast/

http://ianmacphonein.podomatic.com/entry/2011-04-21T11_39_33-07_00

http://www.iwradio.co.uk/newscentre/iw-radio-news/heat-rises-over-999-fire-calls-move-2296

The ongoing petition ‘Save the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre’ has reached 1830 signatories as at 27 April 2011; the petition was delivered to Cllr Barry Abraham and to Democratic Services, I.W. Council, County Hall, Newport. Isle of Wight within the past 24 hours.

Delegated decision by Cllr Barry Abraham, Cabinet Member for Fire & Community Safety, expected on 28 April 2011.

Related links

http://www.firewontwait.com

http://www.facebook.com/fbufirewontwait

http://www.isleofwightfbu.com

http://www.fbur12.org.uk

http://www.fbu.org.uk

Document downloads:

Delegated Decision Fire Control – PDF

APPENDIX A – Delegated Decision Fire Control PDF

APPENDIX B – Delegated Decision Fire Control PDF

Paper B – Delegated Decision Fire Control PDF

FBU fire wont wait a5 flyer 042011s as a PDF (1.5MB)

Letter to Cllr Barry Abraham from FBU 27 April 2011 as a PDF

The decision would see Island council tax payers paying £216,000 for emergency 999 calls being answered by Surrey Fire and Rescue Service some 70 miles from the Island with the loss of vital local knowledge.

The paper invites comments from Councillors over a ten day period; however, with two weekends and two Bank Holidays in this period there are effectively only four working days to comment on the dangerous proposal.

The very people put at risk by the recommended decision, Island residents, businesses and visitors, are denied the chance to respond or comment on the report.

Pete Mawhood, Chair of the Isle of Wight FBU said “It is appalling and concerning that such a critical decision which could adversely affect public and fireighter safety is being forced through without meaningful dialogue with Island resident’s, businesses, visitors and the FBU.

He added an invitation to the Cabinet Member for Fire and Community Safety, Councillor Barry Abraham, to delay the decision until such time as a meaningful meeting can take place between himself and the FBU over their concerns about the plans and the inaccurate report that the recommendation is based upon.

Ends

Notes for Editors:

The Isle of Wight Council are proposing to close the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre in Newport, Isle of Wight, with the calls answered by the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Control (Reigate, Surrey).

Councillors were only given twenty-four hours notice of the additional items on the agenda for the Full Council meeting, including the issue of the Island’s Fire Control Centre back in September 2010.

The Outline Business Case (September 2010) and Full Business Case (March 2011) were published and no consultation with island residents or businesses has taken place.

The latest delegated decision report (published Friday 15 April 2011) states that the cutover date for transfer to Fire Control Centre in Reigate, Surrey is 30 September 2011. The publication gave ten days for Councillors to comment, however, with two weekends and two bank holidays there are only 4 working days to comment in reality.

Documents attached.

Save Isle of Wight Fire Control Campaign website: http://www.firewontwait.com

Contacts:

Regional and Isle of Wight FBU Officials will be available during the afternoon of Thursday 21 April for media and press interviews on the island; please contact us if you wish to arrange an interview: control@isleofwightfbu.com.

Pete Mawhood, Chair, Isle of Wight FBU: 01983 525 121 (via Fire Control)

Andy Cooper IOW Control Rep 07889 182 762

Paul Watts FBU Regional Control 07917 065 869

http://www.firewontwait.com

http://www.isleofwightfbu.com

http://www.fbur12.org.uk

http://www.fbu.org.uk

Delegated Decision Fire Control – PDF

APPENDIX A – Delegated Decision Fire Control PDF

APPENDIX B – Delegated Decision Fire Control PDF

Paper B – Delegated Decision Fire Control PDF

Download the Save the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre petition as a PDF

Please return the completed petitions to:

Thank you.

FBU IOW Control Representative Andrew Cooper said “The lack of foresight, depth and clarity in this report is astounding, given the recent history of the Government wasting £460m+ on the abandoned regional fire control centres over the past eight years.

“The Fire Control Full Business Case raises more questions than it answers. It’s riddled with inaccuracies and assumptions that make it unsafe to base such a vital decision on. The report hugely understates the specialist and local knowledge of the island that is used by IOW Fire Control staff on a daily basis to give local residents the best possible and safest service. The report only considers the option to outsource to Surrey and has failed to adequately explain why other local solutions have not been researched, costed and presented as an alternative.

“None of the professional views and serious concerns expressed by IOW 999 Fire Control Staff appear in the report. As such it is not a balanced open report, nor does it include any costs to society, therefore withholding vital information from the public.

Cost assumptions within the report are widely inaccurate and give a distorted picture of the costs of the current control. In 2009 the control costs were disclosed to DCLG as £483,000. The report now states them as over £600,000 with no breakdown or explanation for such a significant rise.

FBU Regional Secretary Ricky Matthews said “There are so many assumptions made throughout the document it has become almost worthless. How can councillors agree to permanently close the islands only emergency fire 999 control room, effectively making 12 dedicated long serving IOW firefighters redundant, based on assumptions:-

• Its assumed that Councillors in Surrey will support the plans • Its assumed that the additional funding needed is available • Its assumed that control of the project remains with the IW FRS • Its assumed that the other essential services that carried out by emergency control staff will pass to the council • Its assumed that IW Fire & Rescue Service would look to a 5 year contract as a minimum

FBU Regional Control Representative, Paul Watts said “This proposal is being pushed through at a time whilst there is currently a Government consultation taking place on the future of emergency control rooms. I would urge Cllr’s to wait for the outcomes of that consultation. Failure to do so could cost the island tens of thousands of pounds in Govt grants and would ensure that the costs already invested in this botched plan don’t become significant.

Ricky Matthews added “Unfortunately if the Council agrees the proposals presented to them it will leave the FBU little alternative other than to begin legal action. This will be to defend residents’ rights to maintain their island emergency service and to protect IOW firefighter’s employment rights. This course of action will undoubtedly be a lengthy and expensive process for both sides, but I hope it can still be avoided.

“We believe Councillor’s need to pause, take stock and look at the reality of what’s being presented to them. There is far too much risk which is outside the control of the Council on the IOW to make this a viable plan.

“The Fire Brigades Union has previous experience of working jointly with Cllr’s and senior officers to find solutions to difficult problems. Given the opportunity we can provide alternative solutions which benefits Cllr’s, Officers, firefighters and most importantly Island residents, even at this late stage.

“We strongly urge Councillors & The Chief fire officer to shelve this botched proposal and enter into meaningful consultation with the FBU and the islands professional command & control staff to find a suitable alternative solution.

ENDS

Press Contacts

Andy Cooper IOW Control Rep 07889 182762

Ricky Matthews FBU Regional Secretary 07917 065863

Paul Watts FBU Regional Control 07917 065869

Sharon Riley FBU Executive Council Member Control 07889 088423

Further info can be found at

www.firewontwait.com

www.fbur12.org

www.mad26.org

In a recent press release, CFOA (Chief Fire Officers Association), dated 4 February 2011,  stated that there had been 32 fatalities in the last 2 months:

Strathclyde FRS recently reported a ten year high spike in figures and increases in dwelling fires, fire deaths and injuries have been seen in other areas of the country. Peter Holland added, “Tragically we are aware of 32 fatalities which have occurred over the last two months across the UK in Derbyshire, West Midlands, Lancashire, Cheshire, Lothian & Borders, Strathclyde, Oxfordshire, Warwickshire, Humberside, Essex, South Wales and Tayside.”

Unfortunately on the day of release, tragically a further 4 fire deaths have been reported; one in North Tyneside (source: A 91-year-old woman has died after a fire at her North Tyneside home),  two women died in a tower block fire in Lewisham, London (source: Two women die in Deptford tower block blaze), with another woman from this incident seriously ill in hospital. The day after, on Sunday 5 February, a pregnant girl, aged 17, died in a flat fire in Newport, South Wales (source: Pregnant girl, 17, dies in Newport flat fire).

Shockingly, this brings the total fire deaths to 36 in just two months.

The Fire Brigades Union recently repeated it’s warning that cuts will cost lives, as response times slow (source: FBU says cuts will cost lives, as response times slow).

Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary said: “Every second counts when there’s a fire. Our job as firefighters is to rescue people and we aim to get to every incident as quickly as we can.

“But the public should know that cutting firefighter jobs, fewer fire engines and other cuts will delay our intervention. The planned cuts to the service will cost lives if they go ahead. They must be stopped.”

Related links:

Fire Brigades Union

CFOA

BBC News Online

Surrey County Council has released summary documentation to the public, which states: “We aim to have one fire engine at these critical incidents within 10 minutes and a second one within 15 minutes on 80% of occasions.”

But it makes no mention of when that time is measured from. Nationally emergency response times are measured from the time a call for assistance from a member of the public is received, to when a fire engine has arrived at the incident.

Surrey’s proposed standard does not start the clock until the fire engine has been mobilised. This makes a considerable difference.

The average time taken from Time of Call to an appliance booking mobile is;
Wholetime fire engine 3 minutes and 17 seconds
Retained duty fire engine 6 minutes and 25 seconds
(Surrey Fire and Rescue Service Performance Data Report, November 2009)

Surrey County Council are proposing that the first fire engine should be in attendance within 10 minutes to comply with the standard, but in reality the real time could be as much as 16 minutes and 25 seconds and still comply. This is over double the current standards response time.

Richard Jones, FBU brigade secretary for Surrey said: “We have challenged this misleading Emergency Response Standard but there are no plans to come clean and include the call handling and mobilising time in the standard. Since we have already brought this to the attention of the council and they have not made any changes to the proposed standard or clarified the detail with the public we conclude that the standard is designed to be deliberately misleading.

“A Response Standard should measure the time taken to respond with a fire engine to a call from the public and not from when the fire engine leaves the fire station; if that measurement of time had a name it would be a Drive Time Standard.

“We urge Surrey County Council to stop misleading the public who cannot see the vitally important difference highlighted above from the documentation available in the public domain.”

Source:

http://www.firebrigadesunion.org.uk/?p=1349

Note: The Isle of Wight Council are proposing that Surrey Fire and Rescue Service will run the emergency Fire Control function of the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.

Related links:

Fire Brigades Union

Isle of Wight Council

Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service

Region 12 (Southern Region) Fire Brigades Union

Related links:

The Watson Institute

Why cuts are the wrong cure from False Economy on Vimeo.

.

Related links:

falseeconomy.org.uk

RCC’s (FiReControl) Project Cancelled

After 8 years, £423m-£1.3bn, £52m on consultants and 5 years behind schedule the ‘FiReControl Project’ (Regionalisation of Emergency Fire Control Centres) was scrapped by the Government on 20 December 2010.

Paul Watts, Control Staff National Committee Rep (FBU Region 12 – Southern Region) said “This vindicates the professional opinion of Firefighters and Firefighters (Control), who have been the lone professional voice of the Fire Service in opposition to this fiasco, which has been a gross and obscene waste of public money. Fundamentally, technology will not save lives; it is the professionalism, skill and local knowledge that ensure public and firefighter safety.”

The last Government, along with many MP’s and local politicians have ignored the warnings and supported this failing and expensive project.

However, the fight continues as the Isle of Wight Council, who have consistently supported the failed FiReControl Project, now wish to pursue the moving of the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre to Reigate, Surrey.

Andrew Cooper, Fire Control Rep, Isle of Wight FBU, said, “I would like to re-interate and endorse the comments of Peter Holland, President of the Chief Fire Officers’ Association (of 20/12/2010) ‘We must pay tribute to the hundreds of control room staff across the country who have had to deal with major uncertainty over the last few years, but who have continued to provide our communities with a very efficient and effective service throughout this time.”

Andrew Cooper added “My colleagues professionalism, knowledge, skill, integrity and tenacity has been very evident over the past eight years, providing the exemplary level of service that Island residents, visitors and businesses deserve.

We look forward to local politicians learning the lessons of history that the FiReControl Project shows and retain the Island’s Fire Control Centre.”

***ENDS***

Contacts:

Andrew Cooper, Chairman, Fire Control Branch, Isle of Wight FBU: 07889 182 762

Matt Sainsbury, Brigade Secretary, Isle of Wight FBU: 01983 525 121 (Fire Control Centre)

Paul Watts, Control Staff National Rep. (Southern Region):  07917 065 889

Ricky Matthews, FBU Regional Secretary (Southern Region): 07917 065 863

http://www.isleofwightfbu.com
http://www.fbur12.org.uk
http://www.fbu.org.uk

Notes to Editors

Fire Minister Bob Neill MP announced on 20 December 2010 in a Ministerial statement to the House of Commons that the FiReControl Project was scrapped (please see the attached Ministerial Statement).

FiReControl Project: £423m-£1.3bn (actual figure not yet released by the Government as deemed ‘commercial in confidence’). The last known stated figures show £423m, with £52m was spent on consultants for the project.

The project was started eight years ago (2004) and was running over five years behind schedule.

As part of the project the isle of Wight Fire Control Centre (in Newport, Isle of Wight) was to be transferred to the proposed South-East Regional Control Centre in Fareham, Hampshire, which was to cover nine counties (Hampshire, Royal Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey and West Sussex) and eight milllion people.

Since the May 2010 General Election the botched and wasteful FiReControl project has cost the tax payer £8.7m just for rent on the nine empty regional control centre buildings.

The South East Regional Control Centre building has laid empty for several years at a cost of £1.84m per annum to the taxpayer.

Dividing this figure down further to County level (for the nine counties for the RCC: Isle of Wight, Hampshire, Surrey, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, West Sussex, East Sussex, Kent, Berkshire) means the cost per annum to the local tax payer is £204,445.

Additional figures that would have to be added to the above annual costs for the Regional Fire Control Centre (based in Fareham) would be £396,825 per annum (£44,091 for the Isle of Wight) for facilities management services (provided by VT Flagship), Firelink (radio contract costs – unknown) and staffing costs (unknown).

Additional costs include the project management at the Department for Communities and Local Government (formerly Office of the Deputy Prime Minister – the then John Prescott), along with the South East Regional Management Board for FiReControl.

The project is five years behind schedule and was massively over budget.

The nine Regional Fire Control Centre buildings lie empty costing £40,000 per day in rent (source: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/columnists/philipjohnston/7533673/Will-this-waste-of-our-money-never-stop.html).

Scrapped regional fire control centres

East – Essex, Norfolk, Cambridge and Peterborough, Hertfordshire, Bedfordshire, and Luton and Suffolk
East Midlands – Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, Lincolnshire, and Northamptonshire
London – London Fire Brigade
North East – Durham and Darlington, Tyne and Wear, Cleveland and Northumberland
North West – Cumbria, Cheshire, Lancashire, Greater Manchester and Merseyside.
South East – Hampshire, Royal Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Kent, East Sussex, Buckinghamshire, Isle of Wight, Surrey and West Sussex
South West – Devon and Somerset, Dorset, Avon, Cornwall, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire
West Midlands – Staffordshire, West Midlands, Shropshire, Hereford and Worcester and Warwickshire
Yorkshire and Humberside – West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire, Humberside and North Yorkshire

In September 2010 Isle of Wight Councillors voted at a Full Council Meeting for an ‘in principle’ decision to move the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre to Reigate, Surrey (Surrey Fire and Rescue Service), with a delegated decision.

A ‘Full Business Case’ is currently being compiled, which it is currently understood is due to go before Cllr Barry Abrahams, who will then make the delegated decision in February 2011.

Save Isle of Wight Fire Control Campaign website: http://www.firewontwait.com

Ministerial Statement and CFOA Press Release – both of 20 December 2010:

Ministerial Statement FiReControl – FINAL 20 December 2010 as PDF

CFOA Press Release 101220 FireControl Scrapped as PDF

Related links:

Fire Brigades Union

Fire Won’t Wait – Save the Isle of Wight Fire Control Centre

Isle of Wight Council

Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service

Surrey Fire and Rescue Service

Region 12 (Southern Region) Fire Brigades Union

Cassidian

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