CONTROVERSIAL plans to remove a full-time fire crew from Ulverston overnight have been put back because of backlash from the public.
Cumbria County Council’s Labour-Lib Dem cabinet had been due to make a final decision next week on proposals to scrap the evening full-time cover in Ulverston between the hours of 8pm and 8am.
Under the changes, one full-time fire crew will be removed from Ulverston and the rarely-used, under-staffed resilience crew in Barrow will become an on-call crew.
That would mean the whole of South Cumbria would be left with just one full-time 24/7 fire engine at night with support from on-call crews.
As a result of a higher-than-expected level of response to the public consultation, which is in part due to our challenging the reasons behind the changes, the council has put back its decision.
The cabinet will now decide six weeks later – on March 22.
Cumbria Fire & Rescue Service’s chief fire officer, Steve Healey, along with fire portfolio holder Councillor Janet Willis, invited The Mail to discuss the changes following our campaign to protect services.
Mr Healey, an experienced firefighter, said: “I wouldn’t be proposing these changes if I didn’t think it was the right thing to do and the best use of resources.”
However, because of the strength of response, he has now gone back to the Fire Brigades Union to ask for alternatives to improve the cover of full-time and on-call firefighters.
Although the council insist the changes aren’t being proposed to save money, both Mr Healey and Cllr Willis said the new system would give “better value for money” and was being proposed with future funding cutbacks in mind.
We also questioned the lack of proactive consultation about the changes which Cllr Willis, who also holds the council’s customer service portfolio, accepted could have been better.
Campaigners and firefighters who do not believe scrapping the full-time crew at Ulverston between 8pm and 8am is the right thing to do welcomed the decision being put back to allow further discussions to take palce between council bosses and union representatives.
Who will make the final decision?
Whether or not to go ahead with the controversial proposals will fall to members of Cumbria County Council’s Lib Dem/Labour cabinet, made up of councillors.
What is the council’s reason for the proposed changes?
A Cumbria County Council spokesman said: “We have to look at how best to use the resources we have available. We’ve use detailed data over the last six years to understand the level of risk in different parts of South Cumbria and help us to decide where to locate our resources to minimise the risk for the maximum number of people – this is a balancing act.
“The current proposals reflect our assessment that the level of risk is higher in Barrow, and we need to strengthen provision in the town.
“Last year, the Ulverston full-time fire engine did not get used between midnight and 7am for almost 340 nights of the year. We fully understand that for the 25 nights of the year that it was used, it was important.
“However, it is not a good use of resources to have firefighters at the fire station at night when demand is so low and risk elsewhere is higher.”
This article was created from The Mail
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