Wrexham’s fire engine cut proposal: Local Labour suggest consolidation of back office roles instead

A call to ‘streamline the executive operational structure’ and back office roles across all three Welsh Fire Authorities instead of cutting frontline fire service provision has been put forward by Wrexham’s Labour Group.

As we first reported Tuesday morning the North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority will today open a public consultation on the future provision of emergency cover in the region – with one option seeing Wrexham’s third appliance under threat once again – which in practice is the second whole time pump and crews. ‌That would leave the city with one whole time pump and crew, and one retained pump and crew – which is not always available (more). ‌​‌​‌​​​‍‌​‌​​‌‌‌‍‌​‌‌​​‌​‍‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‍‌​‌‌‌‌​​

The consultation opening today at some point will see three options put before residents. Options two and three would mean getting rid of Wrexham’s second whole-time fire engine and the possible loss of half the firefighters in the city.

Cllr Dana Davies, Labour Group Leader in Wrexham Council said, “Wales has three Fire Authorities covering a combined population of approximately 3.1m. In contrast, West Midlands has one Fire Authority serving a population of 2.9m. Rather than cutting our frontline firefighters, we believe there is an alternative option that is not being considered by the Plaid Cymru led North Wales Fire Authority and we are asking for your support in responding to the formal consultation.

“North Wales Fire Authority are opening their public consultation later today. Option 2 and 3 would result in Wrexham county losing its second fire engine and the associated 24 firefighter jobs linked to that appliance. All three options would also include frontline losses to Flintshire (Deeside) and Denbighshire (Rhyl), an additional 28 full-time firefighters being lost from our area.

“As a result of 13 years of forced austerity, a deliberate choice made by the UK Conservative Government, all Local Authorities in Wales have had to streamline their operational structures and collaborate with each other to keep services running.

“To ensure a resilient and well resourced Fire Service for the future, we all must ask the pressing questions, does Wales need three Chief Executives/Chief Fire Officers, three Deputy Chief Officers and numerous Assistant Chief Officers? Does Wales need a triple duplication of all the ‘side’ departments to manage performance, audit, risk management, planning, governance, Human Resources, estates, policies, ICT, fleet and many more functions not listed? We propose the sharing of back office functions and expertise in order to make significant savings across all three Welsh Fire Authorities.

“There is an opportunity through this consultation for us to challenge the Fire Authority options. Our decision-makers are made up of councillors from all six Local Authorities across North Wales and it is currently chaired by Plaid Cymru.

“Our frontline firefighters should not consistently be the target for cuts, they are a blue light emergency service and risk their lives on a daily basis to keep us all safe.

“Wrexham Labour Group is urging the citizens of our city and county to respond to the consultation with a call to streamline the executive operational structure, consolidate back office functions and expertise across the three Welsh Fire Authorities to protect frontline firefighters and maintain the individual identity of the three Fire Authorities, ensuring they are accountable to us the taxpayers for their budgets and service provision.

“This is a crucial issue for our area. Please engage with the North Wales Fire Authority consultation. Support our fantastic firefighters in rejecting the consultation options and expressing your support for the above alternative option.”

Top pic: Multiple crews attending a wildfire – image from a story last year where three serious wildfires running simultaneously were tackled, along with incidents in Wrexham.