Results have now been published from a consultation on cuts to the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service, which ran until May this year, and shows opposition from the public, staff, the Fire Brigades Union and UNISON, plus community organisations towards proposals aimed at meeting "a £12.8million budget deficit for the next year".
Measures included merging six fire stations into three, having only four firefighters on each fire engine and the removal of eight second fire engines from stations currently with two engines, plus a new delivery model for Prevention, Protection, Youth Engagement and Administration.
The consultation attracted almost 1,300 public comments with most critical of the reduced number of fire engines in Greater Manchester.
Relating to Salford, Pendleton Together had "Concern around the reduction of second pumps in the Borough – especially considering high rise, growth and some buildings with AMC cladding on them".
Salford Royal NHS Trust also had "concerns about the available resource in front line staff to deliver prevention activities", while fire service staff themselves had "concerns surrounding city centre stations, in Salford and Manchester, due to the number of new developments...
"Staff also questioned resilience and risk planning around large incidents, such as high-rise and moorland fires", they added "...in Manchester borough we have the largest density of life risk incidents which will increase due to the amount of developments in and around the city, and what we are doing is dramatically reducing the number of appliances and the number of fire fighters in these areas it just does not make sense."
"If most stations are one pump and a high rise incident occurs then where is the immediate slack in the system?" they asked.
Meanwhile, only three Greater Manchester MPs responded to the consultation, including Salford and Eccles MP Rebecca Long Bailey, whose feedback included 'Understanding of the pressure that a Conservative Government is putting on public spending'; 'operational issues (riding 4's, reduction in operational resources)'; 'Change of shift system at non-SDS stations'; 'Closure of six fire stations, and the opening of three new ones'; and 'Removal of several/some non-uniformed staff, with FF [Fire Fighters] taking on the workload'.
The consultation report notes that "Updates were sent to councillors from across Greater Manchester through the consultation, to encourage them to respond and spread the information out to their local constituents. The email update was sent to 637 Councillors, and 259 opened the email" – and 378, or well over half, didn't even bother to open it!
The report also notes from staff feedback that "A reoccurring theme is the lack of belief in the consultation and the ability to influence outcomes...Personnel feel powerless to influence the process of decision making and that senior management have already made their own minds up. They have no belief in the process...Staff cited a lack in clarity in governance and a lack of trust in decision making..."
The consultation feedback will be sent to the Corporate Leadership Team "to help to inform recommendations for the Mayor of Greater Manchester"...But will Andy Burnham take any notice? Watch this space...
To read the full Consultation Report – click here
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