Agenda item

It was moved by Mr Osborne and seconded by Mr Shepherd:-

 

“(a)     That this Council notes:-

 

(i)       That there are significant financial pressures on the Combined Fire Authority (CFA) and the consultation proposals should be seen in that context;

 

(ii)      That the consultation proposals should be seen in the context of a 42% reduction in emergency incident rates in the last 10 years;

 

(iii)      That the proposals now outlined by the Chief Fire Officer (CFO) represent his and his management team’s professional assessment of the best use of reduced resources to deal with risk;

 

(iv)     That the CFA is required by law to set a balanced budget.

 

(b)      That this Council notes the concerns expressed by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), the Retained Firefighters Union, retired members of the Leicestershire and Fire and Rescue Service and others about the potential impact of these proposals but expresses its disappointment at the lack of factual evidence presented to support their concerns;

 

(c)      That this Council notes that the consultation undertaken has been extensive, well publicised and enabled all those wishing to comment to do so;

 

(d)      That this Council notes that in seeking to address the difficult financial the CFA has already:-

 

(i)       disestablished 101 operational posts but has had to make financial provision to be made for these posts in the absence of an agreement with the trade unions as to a way forward, a situation which cannot be allowed to continue;

 

(ii)      pressed ahead with proposals for reducing its costs by engaging in shared service agreements and exploring a range of uses by other organisations of office space at its Headquarters.

 

(e)      That this Council whilst recognising that the proposals as now outlined are in the professional view of the CFO the best option going forward, requests the CFO and CFA to consider further the impact the proposals would have on provision to Leicester City Centre and consider any further mitigation that would address the concerns expressed regarding the response times and cover for significant buildings within the City Centre;

 

(f)       That this Council calls upon the FBU and others to engage with the CFO and CFA in a constructive manner in dealing with the significant financial challenges and in particular address how the necessary changes in operational staffing and practices including the 101 disestablished posts can be addressed by local arrangements outside the provisions of the grey book thereby avoiding compulsory redundancies and provide the additional resources required for any mitigating actions proposed as a result of (e) above.”

 

An amendment was moved by Mr Sharp and seconded by Mr Galton:-

 

“That the motion be amended to read as follows:-

 

(a)      That this Council notes that there is a clear need for the Fire Service to make financial savings and/or generate additional income;

 

(b)      That the recommendations put forward in the consultation document raise significant concerns as outlined below:-

                    (i)       whilst the use of Tactical Response Vehicles will improve efficiency the proposals now outlined are over reliant on their use and concerns remain about their capabilities as the first response vehicle on the scene;

                    (ii)      whilst accepting the assertion that the 10 minute response times will be met under the new proposals, the reduction in the number of fire engines and stations will heighten the risk of delays in the response times of the second and subsequent fire vehicles and ensuring sufficient and timely ‘weight of response’ to major incidents;

                    (iii)      the impact of any proposed changes in the scale of Fire Services in neighbouring authorities has not been properly addressed as part of the overall resilience of the Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland Fire Service;

                    (iv)     alternative cost reduction proposals which would reduce the need for frontline service cuts appear not to have been properly investigated;

 

(c)      That this Council agrees that the CFA must treat the whole of Leicester and Leicestershire on an equal basis, that no area should receive preferential treatment in the name of political expediency and any consideration of the impact of changes to the service, and how to mitigate said impact, must be applied to the area as a whole;

 

(d)      That this Council therefore agrees to advise the Combined Fire Authority as follows:-

                    (i)     That the scale of the proposed changes as now outlined in the consultation paper is unacceptable;

                    (ii)       That an urgent review of alternate cost reduction options be undertaken to reduce the scale of front line service cuts;

                    (iii)      That a clear plan be developed in consultation with staff and the unions to deliver the £1.3million savings already identified within the budget;

                    (iv)     That a full and transparent audit of incident response times including the measurement of appropriate ‘weight of response’ times be undertaken and its results be published.”

 

The amendment was put and not carried, 21 members voting for the amendment and 29 against.

 

The original motion was put and carried, 29 members voting for the motion and 21 against.