An average of almost three minutes will be added to evening and overnight response times from Penwortham and St. Annes fire stations as part of changes to how they are staffed
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However, it was the plans for Penwortham that attracted most debate at the recent fire authority meeting. County Cllr Howarth told brigade bosses that they had treated Penwortham and Preston as if they were “on opposite sides of the Atlantic, not opposite sides of the Ribble”. The fire service stresses that the FDC set-up, which is already in operation at four other Lancashire fire stations, would still enable the county’s fire service to achieve the required response times for Penwortham – both from the town’s own station and those in Preston and Bamber Bridge – and also for St. Annes.
The review will not result in any reduction in Lancashire’s 58 fire engines and 39 stations. Firefighters at DCP facilities receive a 32 percent additional allowance – equating to an average of almost £11,000 – to compensate them for the fact that their shifts involve remaining on “close standby” during the evening and overnight, having worked throughout the day.
He said that the stats excluded “mobilisations that don’t result in any work” such as “going out, basically just to to turn back” – but did include the “wider coverage” area for the station, beyond its own ground. However, Mr. Wagstaff said that Penwortham station firefighters had been mobilised to around 1,000 incidents last year and were on track to hit 1,400 in 2022.
As a result of what the brigade describes as the “perceived challenges around [the] affordability and availability of housing” within a five-minute radius of the Penwortham and St. Annes fire stations, it has agreed to consult further with staff and trade unions about how it will introduce the on-call element of the new arrangements.
Of the 37 staff on DCP contracts who responded to the emergency cover consultation, 62 percent disagreed with the proposal to end the arrangement at Penwortham station and 70 per cent opposed the move at St. Annes. The brigade says that DCP crewing can reduce the capacity for fire prevention work in the community because of the need to provide firefighters with “recovery time” the day after being called out to any overnight incidents, so as to reduce fatigue.
The review had originally suggested adding 25 firefighters to the Lancashire rollcall, requiring an extra £215,000 of investment. But in the context of what the LFRS described as a “shifting financial position”, it revised its plans so that they now generate savings of around £400,000.
LFRS says that the changes to its staffing establishments are “in line” with those adopted by many other brigades nationwide. But the FBU’s letter declared that there was “no definition of resilience or flexibility [that] these proposals comply with” – and also warned of the negative impact of having six firefighters per watch at some four-watch stations and the potential to have to use overtime to cover staffing shortfalls as a result of leave or sickness.
Fire authority chair – Conservative county councillor David O’Toole – said that people would “make their own conclusions about the [FBU’s] letter”, but described the emergency cover review as “extremely thorough” – and the best he had seen during his time on the authority. Labour fire authority member County Cllr Nikki Hennessy said that it would have been preferable to receive the letter “a couple of weeks ago”.
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