The FBU have just published a very detailed and interesting
report that sadly confirms our worst fears about fire service cuts. Notable in
the report are:
How cost effective the service is nationally, at £50 per person or £100 per household. That compares with full breakdown cover for
your car from the AA at £292, and
full homecare cover from British Gas at £377.
So how much does West Sussex County Council think their
residents’ safety is worth? Well County Council figures show it is not £50, but
a derisory £35 per person to provide
the fire and rescue service. Next year they only think we are worth £33 each.
As for the cuts making no difference, research carried out
for the Government has shown that fire service response times are increasing.
Initially they thought this was related to traffic, but the research has shown
that when traffic volumes stabilised, response times kept increasing. That
increase seems to mirror the decrease in the number of firefighters and fire
engines.
They also calculated that a one minute average increase in
response times resulted in 78 extra
deaths and £85 million more
property damage each year. They also said that by 2025 there could be up to 350 extra deaths annually.
Chief Fire Officers up and down the country are warning of
the dire consequences of cuts to the fire and rescue service. Why is our Chief
Fire Officer not joining them and why is he continuing to deceive people by pretending
the cuts are improvements?
For those who would like to read the report, it can be found
here
No comments:
Post a Comment