Submitted by SWFBU on
ALL FBU MEMBERS GLOUCESTERSHIRE
4 January 2016
Dear Brother/Sister,
Re: Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service Consultation “Future Service Provision”
Please find enclosed the formal response of the Gloucestershire FBU to the consultation being run by the County Council entitled “Future Service provision”. A link to this document is here: http://bit.ly/1musH81
Hard copies of this document are being posted to all workplaces within Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service for the information of all members. As you will see, it is the professional view of the FBU that the proposals to close Painswick Fire Station and remove full-time cover at Cirencester Fire Station will, if implemented, compromise the safety of the public and of firefighters within Gloucestershire.
The proposals would result in increased fire growth and a longer wait for people trapped in property fires, road traffic collisions and other emergency incidents.
The proposals would have a dangerous impact on the resilience of Gloucestershire Fire & Rescue Service. They would compromise our ability to deal with large scale, protracted incidents, including fires and floods, whilst also providing a level of ongoing local cover. The authors of the consultation appear to have forgotten the experiences and lessons from the huge floods that our County suffered in 2007 and have put forward proposals which would undermine our resilience and ability to deal with similar incidents.
The County Council has a responsibility to ensure that financial pressures being created by central Government do not impact on the ability of the Service to keep our communities safe and protect the infrastructure and business within our county. It is our view that these proposals are dangerous and, by cutting frontline emergency cover, would compromise public and firefighter safety. On this basis we call on the County Council to reject them.
I call on all members to attend your local FBU branch meetings to discuss this vital issue.
Yours sincerely,
SCOTT TURNER
GLOUCESTERSHIRE BRIGADE SECRETARY
