East Sussex firefighters union has ‘no confidence’ in sweeping changes

At a meeting on Wednesday (June 3), the East Sussex Fire Brigades Union (FBU) committee unanimously backed a vote of no confidence in East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service’s (ESFRS) proposals for how the fire service should be run, known as an integrated risk management plan (IRMP).

The proposals include major staffing changes and critics argue would lead to slower response times in parts of the county.

Eliot Parry, FBU Brigade Secretary said: “The committee has not taken this decision lightly, the fact that the fire authority are continuing to proceed with their public consultation on these dangerous plans has left our members with little choice but to officially record their lack of confidence in the proposals.

“Firefighters know these plans are dangerous and will have a huge detrimental impact on both public and firefighter safety.

“Firefighters need to be able to respond quickly to emergencies and in sufficient numbers to allow them to deal with life threatening emergencies.

“These plans will severely hinder their ability to protect the public and will result in the unnecessary loss of lives.”

In the wording of the vote, the union says it believes “the delays proposed within these plans will directly contribute to the unnecessary loss of life at incidents we attend in the future.”

It goes on to call the proposals to be suspended and undergo a full review.

The proposals include controversial staffing changes and could mean East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service (ESFRS) would no longer come out to rescue birds stuck in nets or attend fire alarms at ‘low-risk’ commercial properties.

It would also be likely to see slower response times at weekends and evenings in some areas, the fire service says.

The largest change would come for the fire service’s day-crewed stations: Battle, Bexhill, Crowborough, Lewes, Newhaven, and Uckfield.

These stations would become “day-only”, meaning they would only be manned between nine and five, Monday to Friday. On-call crews (staying within five minutes of the stations) would respond during evenings and weekends.

These on-call crews currently work evenings, but not during the day on weekends.

The Ridge fire station in Hastings would also become a part-time station.

Fire engines would also be removed from a number of stations, with a minimum of one engine per station.

A previous statement from the fire authority said: A public consultation is open into a number of proposed changes to East Sussex Fire and Rescue Service, which aim to improve the service provided to our communities.

“We welcome constructive dialogue and feedback about the plans, however are concerned about the amount of misinformation which has been promoted by some parties. We urge members of the public to read our full proposals on our website.

“In Planning for a Safer Future (IRMP 2020-25), we set out seven proposals centred on public and firefighter safety which aim to deliver our service in a more flexible and efficient way.

“This includes moving resources to allow investment in preventing emergencies such as fires in homes – an area where the service is already seeing success.

The proposals also include investment in additional resources in Hastings and Eastbourne, investment in training, on-call firefighter contracts, more building safety advice to businesses and more prevention activity for the most vulnerable.”

The proposals are currently out for public consultation, which is due to end on June 19.

To have your say visit the fire and rescue service’s website