Cuts spread over the border and the Shoreham Air Show crash

It is a while since I posted on this blog, but rest assured that campaigning has continued. I will comment more on that in future posts soon, but I first wanted to mention the latest situation in neighbouring Hampshire. I am also aware of some speculation circulating on the West Sussex response to the Shoreham Air Show crash, so I want to try and help clarify the situation.

Hampshire - It seems that the people of Hampshire are also to have their fire service downgraded. Just as in West Sussex their senior officers are rolling out the same sound bites that may sound reassuring to the public, but are at best misleading and at worst dishonest.

Nonsense about ‘the risk has changed’, when houses still catch fire, vehicles still crash and people still need rescuing. ‘The number of fires has reduced’, when that has never been a factor in determining the number of fire appliances and fire fighters required. This is not about how many people and assembly lines you need in a factory to produce ‘x’ products. Fire cover provision has always been based on the need to ensure a speedy response to any location and to allow for major incidents and several calls occurring at the same time.

The biggest obscenity is that they ignore the fact that fire cover standards and adequate crewing levels developed after many deaths of both firefighters and the public. Now, to suit the demands of their masters, senior officers disgrace their uniforms by putting their own careers before public and firefighter safety.

I realise that they have to follow instructions, but why can’t they show the courage and integrity of many of their predecessors and stand up for public safety and stand up for their firefighters? If only they could be honest about the effect of cuts and tell Councillors that longer response times will result in more deaths and more property damage. I know – pigs might fly!

Shoreham Air Show - This crash was truly horrifying and has touched many thousands of people. The friends and families of those involved should be first in all our thoughts. It was a tragic reminder of the vital need for our emergency services and of the challenges they face. There was no lack of courage or integrity shown by the firefighters and other emergency service personnel who responded.

I mentioned speculation about the response, so would like to report what I have been told by several reliable sources. A part-time crew from Worthing was first on scene, as they were on a fire engine parked up near the entrance to the airport. They were not in that location, as suggested in the press, to cover the event, but they had been called in and sent to the Shoreham area to try and cover the lack of crews for fire engines at Lancing, Shoreham and Steyning.

As far as the crash was concerned, it was pure chance that they were in that precise location and were able to be on scene immediately. It was also extremely good fortune that they themselves were not struck by the aircraft. A slightly different trajectory and it could have been a different story. 

Next on scene were the airport's own fire engines, quickly followed by the private fire engines and crews hired in by the organisers especially for the event. West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service do not provide fire engines or firefighters for the event. The only involvement is the provision of an officer to the event control, in line with Air Show event guidelines. I also understand that West Sussex County Council  charge the charity for that officer’s attendance.

West Sussex FRS and East Sussex FRS attended the crash with crews from Hove (2), Brighton (2), Worthing (2), Littlehampton (2, including 1 from standby at Henfield), Selsey (from standby at Storrington) and Bognor Regis, plus special vehicles and personnel from the Technical Rescue Unit.

On this occasion there is nothing to suggest that the lack of crews at several stations in the area, or the longer response times, affected the outcome. Again, that was the result of chance.

I should mention that this information has not come from official sources and I have had to rely on unofficial sources within the service. Since the campaign against the cuts began, WSFRS has made it increasingly difficult to obtain accurate information. They are desperate to keep the truth of often abysmal fire cover, and the real effects of the cuts from the public. 

This was clearly demonstrated when, after I published details from their part-time firefighter availability system, they severely restricted access to it. Previously anyone in WSFRS could access it and concerned personnel had provided details of some of the most appalling levels of fire engine availability. On occasions less than half of fire engines were available.

Of course, if WSFRS was more forthcoming and more honest when it came to the provision of information, speculation would be less likely. They only have themselves to blame. Not only do they fail to provide legitimate information, they also use every excuse they can to refuse to provide it. More on that in future posts.

Fire proves that West Sussex Fire & Rescue Service has been downgraded

So, according to a senior fire officer on 1st April, the service will not be downgraded in any way. Within days though, a serious fire in the centre of Horsham has demonstrated that this is untrue. Unless Conservative County Councillors reverse the cuts and properly protect people in the County, this will be the first of many downgraded responses across West Sussex.

The serious fire in the historic centre of Horsham broke out during a major public event. Instead of two fire engines arriving quickly from Horsham, there was only one. The Council has removed the second wholetime crewed fire engine and there was no crew for the other fire engine crewed by part time firefighters. The vital second fire engine had to be sent from Crawley and took much longer to arrive.

Firefighters are angry about misleading reports in the media and frustrated that they cannot comment. So here are a few of those comments:

“Moral within the ranks is shockingly poor”.

“They keep talking about prevention being important, but they have just cut hundreds of hours from our prevention work”.

“Saying we were consulted is a joke. They didn't listen, my shift system has been changed and child care now costs me more. It’s worse for others, some have been moved and others have had their pay cut.”

"Bosses are claiming things are good but they are not"

“We are being forced to ride with crews of only four, which means we can’t do all the jobs needed at shouts, unless we take more risks”.

West Sussex County Council set out to deceive the public by suggesting the cuts would be harmless, even though they knew there would be extra deaths and property damage. It is clear they are continuing the deception with more half-truths and misdirection. Sending the required resources is not enough if they take longer to arrive. That is clearly a life threatening downgrade.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer has apparently said that the emphasis was ‘solely on response’, when he joined in 1989. You have to wonder if he was wearing blinkers or if he started with the Trumpton Fire Brigade. I joined in 1967 and the emphasis across the UK then was on both prevention and response, and has been ever since. You only have to look at West Sussex in 1981. Prevention posts had been cut the year before to save money (sadly familiar story), but they still carried out nearly twice as many prevention activities as they attended incidents.

Claims that there will be more retained firefighters are also ridiculous as they have cut 15 retained firefighter posts. There are no extra ones. Even claims that more fire engines will be available are false. I have been sent evidence that reveals that on the Thursday morning before the cuts there were just 22 fire engines available, but on the Thursday after the cuts that was down to only 20.

The County Council has put West Sussex residents in greater danger and ignored the many valid objections to these cuts. Over 1,700 have signed the "Stop fire engine and firefighter cuts in West Sussex" petition on the WSCC Epetitions website, and I would urge more to do so. Please share this with friends, family and work colleagues in West Sussex.

West Sussex County Council's sick April Fool

Tomorrow (1st April) will see West Sussex County Council remove 5 fire engines, 21 wholetime firefighters and 15 retained firefighters from fire stations across West Sussex. Claims that this is modernisation are false, as these cuts are being made purely to satisfy a political agenda.

The process to get here has been marred by an insincere and flawed consultation, by inaccurate, misleading, hidden and false information, by intimidation, and by a callous disregard for the people of West Sussex.

Firefighters have had to endure uncertainty about their jobs, they have had to change their working arrangements, and in some cases their place of work. No consideration has been given to the disruption this will cause to their home lives. Some have also had to lose a significant portion of their income and some firefighters and other fire service staff have lost their jobs.

Objectors include hundreds of firefighters, several County Councillors, many town and parish councils and most importantly the public. All have been ignored and some have been treated with contempt and abuse. 

Despite some publicity, I still encounter significant numbers of West Sussex residents who are unaware of these cuts. Most of them are also appalled that such a vital emergency service is suffering front-line cuts.

It has also been alarming to see what a dreadful state the County Councillors have allowed the service to get in to. Perhaps not surprising when they have abandoned proper accountability and reporting. Regular committee reports on the service’s performance seem to have been replaced with cosy chats between the Cabinet Member and the Chief Fire Officer, and proper published reports, available to the public, have been replaced with spin.

Not just during the consultation, but in annual reports. Just look at this example of spin in the 2013-14 annual report. Fire deaths rose from 6 (WSFRS figures) or 7 (DCLG figures) to 8. How did they disclose this increase? Well they didn't, this is what they showed:

 

An honest report, as we used to get in annual reports, would have shown it as:

Using modern graphics it would be:

As for the availability of appliances, that is truly disgraceful, with over half of them not crewed on occasions. Instead of taking proper action to remedy the problem, they are simply going to remove five completely. Ironically there have been days with generally poor crewing levels, when one or more of the appliances being removed were actually available. 

The public will be at greater risk, because help will take longer to arrive for some of them. Even in areas not losing fire appliances, they may have to wait longer for help, because their local fire appliances are responding to areas that have lost fire appliances. Firefighters will be at greater risk, because when they need assistance it will take longer to arrive.

Both firefighters and the public will be at greater risk, because crews of 4, instead of 5, will become the norm, not the exception. Any experienced firefighter will confirm that arriving at a working fire or serious crash with just 4 firefighters restricts the options for effective and safe actions. No professional firefighter can honestly argue otherwise. The only people who will argue for crews of 4 are those who are not concerned with safety and effectiveness, just those concerned with saving money.

This may seem depressing, but please don’t be discouraged. All is not lost and the campaign to undo the damage to what was once a leading fire & rescue service will continue. The petition has nearly 1,700 confirmed signatures, with several paper copies yet to be returned. Please continue to ask people to sign it, and if you have yet to sign it, please do.

To those who have helped to fight this travesty I am most grateful. I am also grateful to those who have kept me informed on things the County Council would prefer to keep secret. Please continue to do so, as scrutiny needs to be even tighter as the cuts begin to bite.

To all who read this, firefighters or public, please keep safe.

Tony Morris

Stubborn County Councillors press on with dangerous cuts

It was disappointing, but perhaps not surprising, that at today’s meeting of West Sussex County Council there were more false claims and deception about the fire service. Councillor Michael Jones had submitted an amendment that would have reversed the fire service cuts, but it was voted down.

I also understand that there were written questions submitted to the meeting about the fire service, but we did not get to hear them. They used meeting procedures to first move the written questions further on in the agenda and then excluded them completely, because of ‘a lack of time’. Even shabbier was refusing to allow responses to the written answers at the next meeting.

David Barling, the new Cabinet Member for Resident’s Services, said in his response that it is often about what they don’t tell you that you need to focus on. Well let us do that.

1. When Mr Barling told the meeting that professional fire officers had come up with the changes, he did not say they could only come up with changes that also saved £1.6 million pounds.

2. When he claimed that the Chief Fire Officer rejected his ‘offer’ of having that money back, he did not say it would be professional suicide to accept it.

3. When he tried to justify cutting fire engines to just 35, by saying there were less calls, he did not say that fire engines were only increased by one to 46 when calls increased from 5,000 to over 15,000. He also did not say that, whilst calls have only dropped back to just under 10,000, fire engines have already been cut to just 40.

4. When he said the Water Carrier from Littlehampton, where crewing is not a problem, would move to Petworth, he did not say that when it goes out on calls there will be more occasions when Petworth does not have enough firefighters left to crew their only fire engine.

5. When he said that these were not cuts, but a service for the future, he did not say that in future more people will have to wait longer for the fire service to arrive and firefighters will have to wait longer for assistance.

6. When he said it would not be done if they thought there was a risk, he did not say that all the evidence showed that more lives will be lost and property damage will increase.

Yes, you did get one thing right Mr Barling, we need to focus on what you did not say.

800 signatures and open letter to County Councillors

Thanks to excellent work by Labour Councillors and supporters in Crawley yesterday collecting paper signatures, and more people signing online the petition has now passed the 800 mark. Not bad for less than two weeks. 

Keep letting people know and remind Firefighters and other WSCC employees that they are allowed to sign the petition and will suffer no repercussions. That is in writing from the Chief Fire Officer and Executive Director Communities and Public Protection.

Ahead of the County Council budget meeting tomorrow I have written to all County Councillors as follows:

"Dear County Councillor,

County Councillors Save Lives could be a headline.  At tomorrow’s County Council meeting you have the opportunity to justify that by rejecting the fire service budget cuts. Do you, like firefighters, have the necessary courage to do that? Councillor Goldsmith has pledged not to bow to party political pressure, so none of you should be disciplined for acting to protect the lives of your constituents.

I can understand that some of you may have been lulled in to a false sense of security by statements from the Cabinet and the Fire & Rescue Service. However, more and more information is coming to light that has been kept from the public, and may well have been kept from you. So before you decide what to do tomorrow, please consider if you have been told, by the former Cabinet Member for Resident’s Services or the Chief Fire Officer, any of the following:

That following previous cuts, West Sussex residents now have to wait, on average, 30% longer for help to arrive than East Sussex residents.

That despite fewer calls, fire deaths in West Sussex have been rising, whilst they have been falling in the rest of the UK.

That some fire engines crewed by retained firefighters are unavailable more than they are available.

That fire stations do not have an approved establishment for retained firefighters, which results in some stations with one fire engine having twice as many firefighters as another. Effectively guaranteeing that the ones with less will often fail to crew their fire engine. There really cannot be any other organisation or business that does not start by determining staffing levels required to meet the ‘business’ need. More wishful thinking than proper management.

That retained fire engine availability dropped 10% in one year (2012/13 to 2013/14) and is now 16% below the West Sussex target (published as 88% in 2011/12).

That WSCC modelling showed that there would be an extra death every other year and £80,000 extra damage every year, as a direct result of the cuts.

That if later claims the modelling may have been wrong were true, it would also mean that the figures used to justify spending over £1 million to improve response times at Littlehampton will also be wrong.

That government and independent research has proven that response times have a direct bearing on lives and property saved. The budget cuts will inevitably result in longer response times to many calls, especially in rural areas.

The people of West Sussex do not deserve front-line cuts to such an essential life saving service. You can stop those cuts, please do.

Several West Sussex online newspapers covering the petition and fire deaths story

Well that is annoying. Several online newspapers in West Sussex are running with the petition and fire deaths story, but the add comments section is not working. 'They are looking in to it'. The comments I wished to add were:

Sadly it is West Sussex County Council that is guilty of taking figures out of context and making misleading claims. Whilst the public is expected to accept figures that they select for publication without question, they immediately criticise anyone who reveals figures they want to keep quiet.

 

Those who are protesting against these dangerous cuts have only ever used figures available from WSCC or Government departments. They are presented as cold, hard facts. Trying to excuse the high number of deaths, and implying that West Sussex is somehow unlucky is very shabby behaviour.

 

To save lives I would urge the public to sign the “Stop fire engine and firefighter cuts in West Sussex” petition. You can find it online by searching for ‘West Sussex Epetitions’.

 

Response times are increasing in West Sussex and on average people have to wait 30% longer for help to arrive than in East Sussex. That is a direct result of previous cuts. Government and independent reviews have proven that when response times increase, more people die and more property damage is caused.

 

WSCC know, but want to hide, the fact that removing more fire engines and firefighters will cost more lives. Their own assessment of the effect of the cuts showed an extra 55 deaths in 100 years, which equals an extra death every two years. Yet now WSCC spokespersons choose to ignore or dismiss their own figures.

 

The County Council carried out an inadequate review, a sham consultation, and the changes to the service were not put to the full County Council for approval. The October debate was about using savings to avoid the cuts, and was defeated by just 28 of the 71 County Councillors. Many sneaked off before the vote and all but one Conservative followed the party whip.   

 

Let’s be clear, these cuts are nothing to do with meeting future needs, just about meeting an inadequate budget. Commuters must breathe a sigh of relief that the County Council is not in charge of the railways. If they were, then there would be fewer trains, with less coaches, and journey times would be longer.

 

This campaign is supported by most serving firefighters, many retired firefighters, parish and town councils, several County Councillors and the public. 

More false allegations from WSFRS

Well it looks like the knives are out, and that was even before we reached 450 signatures. This item appeared on the East Grinstead Online website - West Sussex Fire and Rescue calls campaign against cuts “misleading”

I have responded, but my comments are 'awaiting moderation', so I have reproduced them here:

The County Council carried out an inadequate review, a sham consultation, and they continue to distort the truth. The WSFRS spokesperson has clearly not read the detailed documents prepared by them for the review. That is where the figure for extra deaths comes from – an extra 55 in 100 years, which equals an extra death every two years.

Those figures were deliberately excluded from the consultation document and hidden in supporting documents. Even County Councillors were misled, as shown by Jim Rae who supposedly carried out a detailed review of the cuts. At the October County Council meeting he stated that the figure was only 3 extra deaths in 100 years. That clearly demonstrated that, either he was not telling the truth, or he was misled. I believe it was the latter.

Every time their figures and Government figures are highlighted, WSFRS falsely allege that ‘they are taken out of context’. That is wholly untrue, details about increasing deaths, fire engines not properly crewed and increasing response times are all very relevant and in context.

Let’s be clear, these cuts are nothing to do with meeting future needs, just about meeting an inadequate budget. I would agree that WSFRS staff are working hard, but they need effective support from the County Council. Without it they are fighting a losing battle and the public suffer as a result.

The County Council and WSFRS spokespersons continue to treat the public with contempt. Common sense says that, if there are less fire engines there will be more times when they take longer to arrive. Government and independent reviews have proven that when response times increase, more people die and more property damage is caused.

This is not my campaign, it is a campaign supported by most serving firefighters, many retired firefighters, parish and town councils, several County Councillors and the public. To save lives I would urge the public to sign the “Stop fire engine and firefighter cuts in West Sussex” petition. You can find it online by searching for ‘West Sussex Epetitions’.

A brief reminder of the damaging cuts that this petition is aimed at stopping

1. Removing five fire engines from Crawley, Horsham, Midhurst, Petworth and Storrington. It is this that will cost an extra loss of life every other year and an extra £80,000 of property damage every year.

2. Cutting the number of firefighters on every wholetime station, which will seriously reduce their ability to maintain proper crews of five firefighters on fire engines. This will mean that some fire engines will either be unavailable, or will be left with inadequate crews of only four. The number of extra deaths and property damage from this is not known, as WSFRS failed to assess or model this cut.

Anyone who does not understand why crews of four put firefighters and the public at risk should read the FBU Response to Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Services ‘IRMP Proposals for Change’. WSFRS has not complied with national guidance, or Health & Safety risk assessment requirements.

Previous cuts have resulted in the lowest number of fire engines and crews to protect West Sussex since 1939! Fire deaths are increasing in West Sussex, whilst they have been falling nationally. West Sussex has beaten every other fire service in the southeast, including London, by being the worst for deaths per head of population for each of the last two years.

Firefighters need the support of the County Council to reduce these appalling figures, not cuts. Cutting fire engines and firefighters will just make things worse.

Please sign the “Stop fire engine and firefighter cuts in West Sussex” petition. Find it online by searching for ‘West Sussex Epetitions’, and tell your friends, families and work colleagues.

Some coverage with a news item and a letter in the "Chichester Observer". 

The WSFRS response would be laughable if this was not so serious. 

‘The number of fatalities remains low’ – well that’s OK then, we don’t care about a few deaths.

‘Widely consulted on’ – a sham consultation that hid key facts, pretended everything would be rosy, and offered no alternatives.

‘Scrutinised and debated in full’ – the Councillor who “went through the proposals with a fine tooth comb” wrongly thought only 3 extra deaths were predicted, when it was actually 56. No proper debate or vote.

‘Deliberately taking figures out of context and making misleading claims’ – pot calling kettle black, except that, despite trotting this out every time, they have never substantiated their allegations.

‘Continue to show a long-term downward trend’ – 2009/10 UP, 2010/11 UP, 2011/12 UP, 2012/13 UP, 2013/14 UP – who are they trying to kid.

Adapting to meet future need - CUTS

Petition update

Thanks to everyone who has signed and promoted the petition to their friends, families and work colleagues. It is early days, but we are already approaching 200 signatures. I am sure that will pick up once the main publicity is out there and as more people talk about it. A lot of work is going on behind the scenes.

A couple of issues have arisen. I have been told that WSCC has had a number of people who registered to sign, but have not confirmed their signature with the link they are sent. This is usually because the email has ended up in their spam or junk email folder. They say this is a particular problem with those using Apple products that have higher security settings. If you have not had the email, please check your spam or junk folder.

They also tell me they have had a few signatures with a postcode outside West Sussex. I am very grateful for any support and my view is that, as they may visit or travel through West Sussex, they should be able to comment on cuts that will affect their safety. However, the current rules exclude non-West Sussex signatures from the total, so please use a West Sussex postcode whenever possible, e.g. work or college/university address.

Stop fire engine and firefighter cuts in West Sussex

Cabinet Member responsible for the cuts leaves the Cabinet

The latest news regarding the dangerous fire service cuts in West Sussex is that Cabinet Member Lionel Barnard has left the Cabinet. No information on whether he was pushed or if he jumped.

In addition, the only Conservative Councillor to vote against the cuts, Andy Petch, has resigned from the Conservative Group on WSCC and will now sit as an independent. Good for him, putting public safety before political ambition.

Please remember to sign the Stop fire engine and firefighter cuts in West Sussex petition

West Sussex tops both Fire Death & Fire Casualty tables again

So much for all the false reassurances about prevention being the answer, which they have been saying for years now. Prevention and response are both needed, yet West Sussex County Council have cut both.

West Sussex has had the most fire deaths and injuries, per head of population, of any area in the south-east, including London, for the second year running! Previous cuts are coming home to roost, more are just not acceptable.

West Sussex Fire Deaths Deceit

More deceit comes to light. The national fire statistics show that the figures for West Sussex fire deaths in the latest and the previous consultations were, apart from 2008-09, all lower than the actual figures. The error for the year immediately preceding each consultation may be forgiven, as they were estimates, but showing a lower figure for the other years is unacceptable. 

Did things improve last year? No, the national statistics show the estimate for last year as 7 deaths. At best this is just as bad as last year, which was the worst for 8 years. At its worst  the actual figure will be higher, which means the rise in deaths continue in West Sussex. This conflicts with the national trend, which is downward. So much for their claims that they are reducing risk!

UKIP support putting West Sussex residents in greater danger

I have today heard from the UKIP Opposition Leader on WSCC. He says that there is nothing they can do! He says, "The assurances that satisfactory fire and emergency cover will remain in place after these changes, look sound". That sounds just as hollow as Neville Chamberlain's 'peace for our time' claim just before World War 2. 

Never mind the lack of evidence to support that 'assurance', never mind the increase in fire deaths, never mind the widespread public concern, never mind the hundreds of serving and former firefighters who are convinced that fire and emergency cover will not be satisfactory, never mind the increased response times that will put lives and property at risk, just bury your heads in the sand and keep your fingers crossed.

UKIP have shown their true colours, like the Tories, they are happy to sacrifice lives in West Sussex.

More shocking evidence of the damage fire cuts are causing

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