The response time deception
This week I watched Conservative Cabinet Members congratulating their colleague Duncan Crow on this annual report. Unfortunately, they glossed over matters that should be of real concern and misrepresented others.
Councillor Steve Waight made one pertinent comment:
"The public tell me the most important thing is when you phone them, they
come."
However, he then spoilt it by claiming the targets that were being met were tough ones.
The target for the first fire engine to arrive at critical fires in Hampshire & Isle of Wight within 8 minutes may be considered a tough one.
The target of 10 minutes in Surrey may be considered a reasonable one.
Yet, the Cabinet's target for two thirds of West Sussex of 14 minutes, and 12 minutes for the other third, are most definitely not tough targets.
Especially so as the target allows them to take longer at 11% of critical fires.
The improved performance deception
I was astonished to hear Chief Fire Officer Sabrina Cohen-Hatton say that she had compared performance with several years ago and was 'absolutely delighted with the way the service has responded.'
I don't know what performance she compared, but it surely can't be to do with the public's primary expectation of a quick and effective response.
The County Council has reduced standard crewing on fire engines by 20%, which makes every crew less effective.
They have closed four fire stations and removed a quarter of frontline fire engines, which inevitably increases response times and reduces the service's effectiveness.
There are now 28% fewer firefighters in West Sussex, and the minimum number on duty in Crawley Borough has been cut by 60%.
Despite County Council claims that cuts would reduce fire deaths by diverting resources to prevention, they have increased.
Source: Home Office Fire & Rescue Service data
The shocking failure to ensure fire engines are crewed
During the day, two thirds of frontline fire engines depend
on retained (on call) firefighters. At night, three quarters of frontline
fire engines depend on them. Yet the latest figures show that they are unavailable
more often than they are available.
Not only is this a serious County Council failure, they secretly dropped the availability target for fire engines crewed by retained firefighters from 88% to 75%.
Source - West Sussex County Council reports
Conservative failure, nationally and locally
The reduction in the service's effectiveness is the result of Conservative policies locally and nationally. With the general election this week there is a chance for people to show that they have had enough, but in West Sussex voters will need to vote tactically to defeat the Tories.
Unfortunately, the recommendations on tactical voting sites are very misleading, because they fail to take account of local differences. They rely on a small sample of national polling, no pollsters survey more than 0.1% of voters, and then try to model voting intentions at constituency level without examining local variations. Some do also look at local voting at previous general elections, but with the boundaries being changed, in some cases significantly, they are still unreliable.
I am not a member of any political party, but have followed politics locally for over 50 years. I have looked at the support shown for different political parties in recent local elections, and the performance of current candidates. My conclusion is that if you want to help remove Conservative MPs from West Sussex, then vote for the following candidates:
Definitely best tactical voting option
Chichester - Liberal Democrat
Crawley - Labour
East Worthing and Shoreham - Labour
Horsham - Liberal Democrat
Mid Sussex - Liberal Democrat
West Worthing - Labour
Less certain best tactical voting option
Arundel and South Downs - Green Party
Bognor Regis and Littlehampton - Labour
East Grinstead and Uckfield - Liberal Democrat
The most important thing is that you actually vote
People want change, but it won't happen unless people get out and vote. There are many excuses used by those who do not vote, but the reality is that they simply help those they complain about stay in power.
The Reform UK Party deception
One final thought, please don't fall for the lies of the undemocratic and disruptive Reform Party. Not everyone who has fallen under their spell is a racist, xenophobe, Russian apologist, conspiracy theorist, or violent, but too many of their members and several candidates are.
Not only is their 'contract' mostly unaffordable and unworkable, some of their candidates have some really odd views. Just one example, the Chichester Reform candidate told voters that people who do not run a business do not know what people need, and that policemen who are less than 6 feet tall are no good!
