Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority.

The Southport Party has many concerns regarding the Fire service cover in Southport. In reply to a recent letter the leader of The Southport Party, David Cobham, has received confirmation from the Chair of the Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority, Councillor A. Newman that no request has been sent by the chair of the Southport Area Committee for Fire Authority officers to attend a meeting of this committee to answer important questions from the public regarding changes at the Southport Fire Station.
This is surprising in view of the facts that:
(1) we asked the Chair of the Southport Area Committee in February 2005 to arrange this event knowing full well that the fire officers would be only too pleased to attend;
(2) the fire officers have already attended the Litherland and Ford Area Committee held on 4th January at Cathy Roberts Memorial Hall, Osborne Road, Litherland. These are the minutes of that Area Committee:

Minute 39(c) - 2/11/2005 - Open Forum.
Mr. M. O'Brien, Advisory Group Member, asked if the Committee could explain why Crosby and Buckley Hill Fire Stations, which provided fire cover for Ford and Litherland have had appliances frequently unavailable due to staff shortages. It was agreed to request the Chief Fire Officer of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service to send a written reply to Mr. O'Brien on the matter. It was also agreed to request the Chief Fire Officer to arrange for a member of the Service to attend the next meeting to report on the issues raised by Mr. O'Brien.
Minute 51 - 04-01-2006 - FIRE COVER IN LITHERLAND AND FORD WARDS.
Further to Minute No. 39(c) of 2nd November, 2005, the Committee heard a presentation by Senior Divisional Officer K. Peek, Director of Service Support, of the Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service on the level of fire cover for the Litherland and Ford Wards. Senior Divisional Officer Peek referred to the level of operational fire cover for the above area and emphasised that it was one of the highest in the country. Divisional Officer Peek answered Members questions on the matter. RESOLVED:- That Senior Divisional Officer Peek be thanked for his presentation.

This is yet another example of the total contempt being shown to this town by the current elected representatives who ignore sensible and constructive requests made to them.

However we welcome the following compliment from Councillor A. Newman that we in The Southport Party are succeeding in our primary objective - to work for the best interests of Southport:
"I suspect that the Southport party will never be satisfied with proposals that seek equality and improvement throughout the whole of Merseyside rather than the specific area of Southport."

The full text of the letters follows:

 

To The Chairman, Merseyside Fire and Civil Defence Authority,

RE THE FIRE INTEGRATED RISK MANAGEMENT CONSULTATION. SUBMISSION BY THE SOUTHPORT PARTY

The Southport Party wish to make clear that they have grave concerns regarding the 3rd machine, AND now the high lift aerial appliance at Southport fire station being downgraded from full time manning, to part time personnel (retained firefighters), who will have to travel from all areas of Southport in response to an emergency, with their arrival times at the fire station being up to a stated 30 minutes from call out.

This action, together with the overall reduction of full time fire cover in Merseyside, we feel will inevitably mean an unacceptable lowering of the service to the public.

Our party believes lives are being put at risk unnecessarily as a result of funds being diverted from front line fire fighting, causing a situation that will only end in tears.

We fail to see how the fire authority slogan "MAKING COMMUNITIES SAFER" can hold up if these obvious cost cutting measures are implemented, it simply does not make sense.

Despite repeated requests from the public, made to the chair of the Southport area committee, for The Chief Fire Officer to attend and explain his proposals, and his stated willingness to do so, the chair has refused point blank. The attitude of the council is that the fire authority knows best, and the council and public should not interfere .

The Southport Party believes the public, who pay for the fire and rescue service have a right to have a say in matters of community safety and concern, and the consultation period leading up to these decisions has been an under publicised sham.

WHAT PRICE A LIFE.

Will the fire authority please confirm the part time fire fighter (retained) attendance response tunes for the 3 rd fire engine and the high lift aerial appliance ?

 

Dear Mr Cobham

Thank you for your letter of 21 st October.

I am disappointed that you have declined to use the due consultation process within which to make comments or express concerns about proposals made by the Fire Authority in relation to the third pump at Southport. Despite an extensive search of our records we are unable to find any reference to these concerns, made within the Authority consultation process about these matters.

The matters to which you refer have been the subject of very extensive public consultation for many years and I therefore find it difficult to understand why you felt unable to respond to the recognised consultation process.

In relation to your letter of the 21st October, I assume that you wish these concerns to be placed in the consultation process for Year 3 of the Integrated Risk Management Plan? I will assume that this is the case unless I hear to the contrary.

Your views that our proposals in some way endanger lives will be made known to the Fire Authority. The evidence however paints an entirely different picture. It is a matter of fact that we have the lowest level of fire death, fire injury and fires in our history of the Service. This is why the Fire Authority is committed to its vision of making communities safer and it is delighted that it is achieving its vision. I can also state that there have been no cuts to the costs of the Fire Authority in its history. This year's service costs more than last year's cost, and next year's service will cost more than this year's service. There are therefore no cost cutting measures in place.

With regard to the turnout times for the third pump at Southport, please find attached a report that was submitted to the Authority several weeks ago and that has been available to the public domain since that time.

I can assure you that there has been no requests whatsoever for the Chief Fire Officer to attend the Area Committee you refer to, and should there ever be a request, either the Chief Fire Officer or his representative would be more than happy to attend and express the Fire Authority's position on this matter.

I hope these comments deal with the matters you raise. However, I suspect that the Southport party will never be satisfied with proposals that seek equality and improvement throughout the whole of Merseyside rather than the specific area of Southport.

Yours sincerely

A Newman Chair