A Nottinghamshire MP says there are "serious questions" to answer over plans to take night time cover away from one of the county's fire stations. Plans were first revealed in September for the night shift to be withdrawn from the West Bridgford fire station as part of a package of measures to save £2 million a year at Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service.
The service says it has seen budget reductions of nearly £10 million since 2010 and that financial planning in February predicted a budget deficit of around £2.1 million for the next financial year, which starts in April 2023. Alongside the West Bridgford plans, the service therefore also proposed to remove a fire engine from the London Road and Stockhill stations.
But Conservative Rushcliffe MP Ruth Edwards has now spoken out in the House of Commons against the West Bridgford plans. Speaking in Parliament on Monday (December 19), Ruth Edwards said the decision-making of the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire Authority was "letting down constituents and the brave firefighters who serve them."
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Nottinghamshire's chief fire officer, Craig Parkin, has previously said the current proposals are the "least worst option" and that West Bridgford deals with "very few" incidents. But Rushcliffe's MP told Nottinghamshire Live: "It's not just the incidents in Rushcliffe you need to look at, it's the call outs for the appliances at the West Bridgford station.
"The West Bridgford station has a higher call-out rate than about five other stations in the county and that's because it doesn't just serve West Bridgford, it serves Nottingham city and the surrounding area. The other issue is that if they take the full time night shift from West Bridgford, it would mean Rushcliffe is the only borough in the county without a whole time fire station.
"That is a concern to me, especially in a year when we've seen more rural fires because of the hot weather we've had. The Chief Fire Officer has written to me to say that moving cover from West Bridgford isn't going to save any money anyway."
Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service says the West Bridgford plans would save around £660,000 per year. But this amount would then be invested to reinstate Ashfield Fire Station as a 24/7 service again.
Ruth Edwards added: "Nottinghamshire has got a similar funding settlement to other fire services, yet they are cutting far more firefighters. It raises serious questions around why we are seeing these issues in Nottinghamshire when we are not seeing them elsewhere."
Assistant Chief Fire Officer, Mick Sharman, said: "Regrettably Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service has faced over a decade of continued and increasing financial pressures. We have a legal requirement to set a balanced budget, so we have had no choice but to propose changes to the organisation.
"The suggested changes have been independently assessed by a sector leading specialist, following a comprehensive analysis of risk across the whole city and county. The location of a fire station, its resources, and staffing models are all informed by a significant amount of data analysis, including community risk profiling and historical incident demand review.
"The proposal is one that enables us to save the money required, with the least impact on service-wide performance." Final decisions will not be made until responses to a public consultation have been analysed, with the consultation set to close on December 23.
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