Warwickshire Fire & Rescue's new operating model has been approved by the county council's cabinet despite calls for the public to have a second say.

The service's resourcing to risk proposals were significantly altered following a public consultation that attracted more than 1,200 responses amid a series of concerns. 

One of the biggest was the proposed scrapping of on-call firefighter teams due to plummeting availability, services that were saved in Polesworth, Henley, Wellesbourne, Southam and Bidford after they were deemed to have stable enough availability.

The new model will now see Kenilworth Fire Station with a full-time day appliance from 7am to 7pm, alongside Henley-in-Arden, Southam and Wellesbourne.

The refreshed plans also came with more than £500,000 per year of extra funding for the next three years, supporting the recruitment of 30 extra firefighters to ensure that 14 fire appliances are available across the county in the day and 13 at night, more than what is available now.

Resilience teams – a new name for what were termed surge teams in the previous plan – will provide back-up when required on top of the five saved on-call teams. 

It is anticipated the overall average response time from the first fire appliance will improve by almost a minute across the county, and while the average gets worse for some rural areas of North Warwickshire and the district of Stratford-on-Avon, these amended plans are set to shave off more than a minute and a half compared with what was initially proposed for Stratford. 

Nuneaton, Bedworth, Rugby, Warwick and Leamington are expected to benefit from improved response times.

Concerns

Bidford-on-Avon Parish Council's Penny Barry was involved from the outset in saving the on-call option for her area and this week told the county's cabinet – the Conservative panel of councillors in charge of major service areas and making this decision – that concerns remain. 

"This relies on enough full-time staff signing up to the resilience model on top of their 40-hour per week shifts," she said.

"Is there any evidence that the model has been used successfully elsewhere? Does the cabinet fully understand what resilience is and the time lapse of availability? 

"The resilience fire stations in the south of the county leaves the area dangerously short in an emergency. Reducing the available appliances from eight to three during the night endangers residents, employees and people travelling through the area. Does the cabinet feel this is acceptable and provides enough emergency cover?"

She also threw down the gauntlet to council leader Cllr Izzi Seccombe on daytime response times.

"Despite concerns raised over attendance times in the consultation, this is now going to be 20 minutes-plus in the south and south-east of the county, assuming that the closest fire engine is not deployed elsewhere. Does Councillor Seccombe think this is acceptable for the residents she is elected to represent?"

New Stratford-on-Avon MP Manuela Perteghella made the case for more a new consultation on "significantly different" plans. 

"It is better to take a little longer so these views are heard by cabinet before you take the final decision," she said.

She welcomed the saved night cover in Bidford and the 24/7 provision in Henley-in-Arden but was concerned that Alcester's risk of flooding and the volume of HGVs using the A46 and A435 had not been adequately considered, adding that Shipston-on-Stour and surrounding villages had been left "extremely vulnerable". 

The response

Portfolio holder for fire & rescue and community safety Cllr Andy Crump said in-depth work had been done to consider the needs of the whole county and secure the extra funding to strike the right balance. He also highlighted the difference between perception and reality over on-call availability.

"From the figures I have, Shipston is available 0.7 per cent of the time in the day, when activity is highest. The average is six per cent across day and night," he said. 

"Cover for the south is already being provided from other parts of the county. At the moment we can only guarantee 11 pumps during the day, under these proposals we will guarantee 14 which gives the chief fire officer operational independence to allocate them to whatever part of the county he sees fit depending on the risk." 

Cllr Seccombe added: "There is a danger that we as a council are losing the point that this is a significant investment in our fire service.

"I think every one of us, whatever (political) persuasion, knows that local government finances are not in a strong place so to achieve this and meet better outcomes for our residents has addressed the point of this, which is resourcing to risk.

"It is never easy to address the demand in a council area like Warwickshire where you have quite an urban north and sparsely populated south.

"I have to commend the chief fire officer (Ben Brook) and the team that has worked with you, and those who have been part of the consultation and contributed some very useful feedback which has helped to shape this and come forward with a plan that invests money in Warwickshire Fire & Rescue Service.

"There has been a recognition at all times that we have a fantastic service. Our firefighters serve at their own considerable risk, these are people who run to danger, not away from it, and they do that to protect us.

"The important thing for us is knowing that the inspectorate has required this. We know we have a problem with the (on-call) numbers, I would dearly love to wave a magic wand and say we would be able to find more people but that has been tried for five years, at least, and not just in Warwickshire.

"We have to address that need. My residents – and I was asked the question – are sat with the belief that there is a wonderful shiny service that will be there for them and it isn't always the case."