Labour MP for Poole, Neil Duncan-Jordan, has raised concern over cuts to Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue service.
Following meetings with firefighters, the MP for Poole has called for “consideration of what the proposed change actually means for residents, businesses and firefighters”, stating that figures used to justify the cuts “simply don’t add up”.
Poole is one of eight areas set to lose a fire engine, as part of plans that the Fire Brigades Union has said will “put lives and homes at risk”.
The fire service is also planning on downgrading fire cover across the region, which will mean fewer firefighters available during the night. Fire stations covering large areas will be impacted, reducing resilience and firefighter availability across Dorset and Wiltshire.
Despite Christchurch firefighters responding to incidents across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, their fire station is set to lose full-time firefighter cover at night. Chippenham and Trowbridge also face losing night cover, meaning that there will be no firefighters with guaranteed availability to respond to incidents between Swindon and Salisbury.
Poole, which provides fire cover across the south of Dorset, faces losing its fire engine by 2025, while other fire engine cuts are scheduled for early September. [1]
As a result of a decade of cuts, it is currently taking longer than ever before for firefighters to arrive at a fire in Dorset and Wiltshire – 10 minutes and 46 seconds in 2023, with firefighters being sent out in smaller crews.
Neil Duncan-Jordan, Labour MP for Poole said:
Poole residents will be concerned to find out that not only is the capacity of the local fire station effectively being reduced, but that some of the services they fund are being redirected to Wiltshire.
Some of the figures that are being used to justify the loss of the second engine at Poole simply don’t add up and I think there needs to be more detailed consideration of what the proposed change actually means for residents, businesses and firefighters before anything happens.
My constituents don’t realise that just because there are four or five vehicles sitting in Poole fire station, the service doesn’t have the staff to send them all out at the same time. The proposal to lose the second engine is only going to make that situation worse.”
Val Hampshire, Fire Brigades Union executive council member for the South West said:
Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue service is in desperate need of investment, but instead faces another round of devastating cuts. This is completely unsustainable and will only deepen a crisis in firefighter and public safety.
The service has said that residents can still expect a fire engine at a fire. But the key question is where will it have to travel from, and so how long it will take to get there? Every second counts when it comes to a fire. Fewer firefighters on shift and fewer fire engines available will put lives and homes at greater risk.
The fire authority and fire service must stop these dangerous cuts in their tracks and push for the funding Dorset and Wiltshire urgently needs.”
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary said:
Plans to cut Dorset and Wiltshire fire and rescue service will put homes, communities and public safety at risk.
Firefighters are already under immense pressure to keep communities safe, doing more with less. Since 2010 we have lost 1 in 5 firefighters to cuts in the UK.
Slashing resources and downgrading fire cover means people waiting longer for help, but every second counts at a fire. The fire authority must put public safety before cost-cutting and stop these dangerous cuts."
