Stalemate continues as North Wales Fire Authority rejects proposals to change rural cover
North Wales Fire Authority have thrown out proposals to change rural cover across the region, meaning a stalemate in negotiations is set to continue following a public consultation earlier this year.
The review of staff would have seen a redistribution of firefighters and resources to improve rural cover but adding a five-minute response time to more urban areas.
But at a North Wales Fire Authority meeting today, a decision was deferred – and the move described as ‘robbing from Peter to pay Paul’.
Following ongoing negotiations between the Fire Brigades’ Union (FBU) and the authority, members rejected the plans to scale back Rhyl and Deeside stations from 24-hour operation to day-crew only.
Currently firefighters are stationed 24 hours a day at Rhyl and Deeside, but the latest proposals would have instead seen them based at stations between 12 pm and 10 pm and then retained on call after hours within five minutes of both sites – a move which would free up staff.
Back in October the fire service dropped proposals to close stations in North Wales with Llanberis, Beaumaris, Abersoch, Cerrigydrudion and Conwy previously at risk.
Members of the committee also considered independent legal advice regarding the risk of a judicial review, focusing on the legitimacy of the public consultation process and the implications of not adhering to public opinion and professional advice.
Following a detailed analysis and consideration of feedback from the consultation, the members decided today not to progress with any proposed options
Speaking at the meeting, Matt Ryan of the FBU said: “The last six months have levied a heavy toll on the communities under threat and the staff who will be affected. T
“They (firefighters) have united in a rebuttal of the downgrading of fire stations and the reduction in standards of fire cover that the options represent.
“They have stepped up to this challenge because they know how dangerous and foolhardy the options are. It is these brave men and women with a conscience who will have to deal with the consequences of a delay in turn out.
“They are our vanguard of our emergency services response in North Wales, and they have no faith in the options proposed by our management team.”
He added: “We aren’t deliberating on the closure of a library or how often bins should be emptied.”
As part of the same rejected proposals, twelve whole-time duty system rural team staff were set to be relocated from an unspecified location to Porthmadog, Dolgellau, and Llangefni fire stations on a 12-hour day shift, increasing rural cover. Currently firefighters are retained (on call) at these three stations.
Plans to cut one of Wrexham’s two whole-time fire engines were outright rejected by the public earlier during the consultation, and the latest proposal involved refining the current arrangement to continue to cover South Denbighshire as part of that same operation.
As with Porthmadog, Dolgellau, and Llangefni fire stations. this proposal would have allowed Corwen station to be covered by Wrexham firefighters when required.
Cllr Rob Triggs said councillors should delay the vote to allow more discussions.
Members then voted to defer the emergency cover review decision.
The vote to approve the proposals was lost 12-11 with one authority member abstaining and another having digital connection problems.
The member who couldn’t connect had already indicated they would vote against, meaning the result would have been unchanged.
Dylan Rees, Chair of the Fire and Rescue Authority said: “First and foremost, the primary aim of the Authority is to protect the people of North Wales and ensure we can provide the best level of emergency cover across the whole of the region.
“Members considered all the information and evidence before voting on the way forward. After careful deliberation of Option 1a, which was an enhanced version of the option favoured by the public during the consultation, the decision was taken not to progress with that option which sought to improve emergency cover in rural areas, and to continue providing the same level of emergency cover as currently provided to the public in North Wales.
“Members formally rejected Options 2 and 3 presented in the consultation.
“I would like to thank everyone who took part in this consultation and for providing valuable feedback to help Members make a final decision.”
Chief Fire Officer Dawn Docx said: “I would like to echo the Chair’s thanks to the public for taking part in the consultation and I would also like to thank Fire Authority Members for taking the time to consider and weigh up all the options.
“I am pleased that now an agreement has been reached in relation to the level of emergency cover we can agree on our budget for 2024/25. On that basis, we can move forward to plan for the future and ensure that we can provide the best possible service to our communities.
“I am also heartened by the fact that we will be able to achieve this without the loss of any firefighter jobs and without the loss of any of our fire stations.
“We now will turn our attention to working with our stakeholders to explore how we can work together within our budget to provide alternative improvements to emergency cover that meet the expectations of Authority Members.”
Matt Ryan from the FBU said: “I speak on behalf of all fire service union members, all the staff who are really grateful that you’ve listened to our concerns.”
“I genuinely mean this; I know that if we work hard, and together with our senior leadership team, we can find and deliver a solution that is truly equitable and covers all the needs and requirements we have.”
“So I look forward to working with them next year, into 2024.”
“This is just the first step of a long journey that we’re going to take to improve fire cover in North Wales, and I’m just glad that we didn’t rush into it.”
Wrexham.com / BBC Local Democracy Reporter
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