Warwickshire County Council’s Cabinet today (9 November 2023) has authorised the Chief Fire Officer to go ahead with a public consultation on a new model for resourcing.
Changing demands on fire and rescue services have resulted in a need for a new resource model, which will enable WFRS to move appliances more dynamically and effectively around the county to be better placed to protect Warwickshire communities.
Currently, there are more fire appliances and resources available at night when activity levels are lowest, and fewer fire appliances and resources available in the day when activity levels are the highest. Despite the commitment and hard work of on-call firefighters who serve their communities whilst also having other full-time jobs, this is partly due to levels of on-call availability falling over the last five years.
The new model of resourcing will improve availability across the county and result in the highest guaranteed fire appliance availability during the 8am to 10pm period when demand and activities are at their highest. Specifically, the benefits include improved first appliance response times across Warwickshire and increased resilience for major incidents.
The proposed model does not include plans to close any of the current fire stations across Warwickshire.
Portfolio holder for Fire and Rescue and Community Safety, Cllr Andy Crump, explained: “This plan will make Warwickshire safer, because we’ll have the right level of resource in the right place at the right time. Changing times mean that we also have to change in order to keep Warwickshire safe.”
The next step will be to launch a public consultation process, giving staff, partners and the public the opportunity to comment on the proposals. The consultation is planned to commence in December and run for three months to allow an extensive and full consultation.
A copy of this Cabinet paper can be found online: https://democracy.warwickshire.gov.uk/documents/s33856/WFRS%20Resourcing%20to%20Risk%20Proposal%20Paper.pdf
More information about Warwickshire Fire and Rescue Service is available here: https://www.warwickshire.gov.uk/fireandrescue