Decision due on cuts to Harrogate’s night-time fire crews this month
Under plans, the number of fire engines in the town could be reduced
A controversial plan to cut the number of night-time fire engines in Harrogate to just one is set to be decided by the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner this month.
Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is assessing feedback from a consultation and is expected to meet with her executive board for a decision in September.
She has continually insisted that the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service would “continue to provide an immediate emergency response” under the plan as emergencies are less likely to occur during the night.
Yet union officials and councillors remain concerned about the proposal which has been described as “putting money before lives”.
The plan is part of the fire service’s new risk and resource model, and a three-month public consultation ended in August.
According to the commissioner’s website, a consultation summary report will be presented to the executive board for a decision before the final risk and resource model is published.
If approved, it will pave the way for a new strategy on how the fire service will deploy its staff and equipment over the next three years.
There are similar proposals for fire stations in Scarborough and Huntington which commissioner Metcalfe said along with the Harrogate plans would save over £1.5 million a year to allow for investment in fire prevention
She also insisted the proposals are not cost-cutting measures and have been based on “extensive risk assessment”.
However, concerns remain over public safety and the amount of government funding that the fire service receives.
The North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union previously said the fire service’s finances have left it “struggling to buy the basics” and that around £25 million is needed to replace out-of-date buildings, vehicles and equipment.
Union secretary Steve Howley also said the risk and resource model plans would leave the county with a “second-rate emergency response service that will put lives at risk”.
“A decade of under investment in the fire and rescue service has dovetailed with an increase in response times both locally and nationally,” he said.
“The police, fire and crime commissioner needs to fight for the correct funding from government, not simply mask underfunding by slashing services.”