Cuts will put lives at risk, warns West Midlands fire chief
Further multi-million pound cuts in Government funding for the fire service could put lives, properties and frontline jobs at risk, it has been warned.
The chairman of West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority, Councillor John Edwards, gave the stark warning following a meeting with the Fire Minister Brandon Lewis, at which he stressed the need for greater flexibility and decision-making in setting the amount of money the service raises through council tax.
"We're facing cuts in central funding until at least 2018 – this will be on top of £21 million we'll have lost between 2011 and 2015, and a further £10 million the year after," Councillor Edwards said. "We've already lost 300 firefighter posts and made significant savings in management and administration costs.
"Fewer resources mean we've had to change the shape of our fire engine fleet and introduce Brigade Response Vehicles which can operate with a crew of three.
"We're extremely proud of how, in spite of these cuts, we've managed to maintain our performance levels against our target of a five-minute response time for life-threatening incidents. ut further cuts bring the threat of longer response times, fire station closures and frontline redundancies ever closer."
The fire service is currently planning to sell or rent out its training academy on Dartmouth Road, Smethwick.
Authority chiefs are also planning to sell off 20 vacant residential or non-operational properties the service owns in a bid to rake in £1.8m.
Chief fire officer Phil Loach, who also attended the meeting with the Fire Minister, added: "We're always developing and exploring new ways of preventing, protecting and responding to incidents, to keep the West Midlands safe."
