Dear Chief Fire Officer

Nick Smith MP - Please fight for Blaina and be Our Champion

The following is a copy of a letter that was sent by local boy and MP for Blaenau Gwent, Nick Smith to Chief Fire Officer Huw jakeway.

You know Huw, that's the guy who submitted inaccurate information to the council at Ebbw Vale on Monday and tried to pass it off as fact in order to justify risking the lives of the people of Blaina and Nantyglo in order to save a few pounds a year.

The letter follows:-

Chief Fire Officer
South Wales Fire and Rescue Service
Forest View Business Park
Llantrisant
CF72 8LX

26th September 2013

Dear Chief Fire Officer,

Proposed closure of Blaina Fire Station

I e-mailed the SWFS earlier this week to ask about plans to close the Fire Station at Blaina, which have caused dismay in Blaina and neighbouring communities. It has come as a bolt from the blue.

As well as knowing the timetable for the consultation, I would now like to ask for further specific information about your plans.

* How much investment/maintenance has been spent on the fire station in Blaina in the last three years

* What is the fire tender and staffing at Blaina?

* Will the fire tender and staffing at neighbouring town/s be increased if Blaina were to be closed?

* In the report of the meeting of the Fire Authority on 23rd September it says: “Changes to the way we are proposing to deliver our services under stage 2 of the review will not significantly increase the risk to the communities within those Unitary Authority areas.” So can I have a copy of the report on which this assessment has been based?

* What is the Fire Authority doing to cut costs which do not impact on frontline services?

* What are the salaries of the CFO, Assistant Chief Officers and other members of the management team?

* How many staff are entitled to fringe benefits such as leased cars and what is the annual cost of this benefit.

I look forward to an early response to these enquiries.

Yours sincerely

Nick Smith MP

Well that is a good letter and I hope that the answers he received were honest ones but I doubt it.  Let us see if we can fill in some of the details whilst making a few points at the same time.

How much investment/maintenance?

Short answer none - despite there being land up for grabs that would make the Blaina Firestation response time even faster than it is and despite funds being set aside and ringfenced for building a new station nothing has been done there in years.

What is the fire tender and staffing at Blaina?

Currently the "establishment" as 15 firefighters and 1 admin staff member.  Despite being slightly undermanned, Blaina is still able to provide full cover 24/7 for the Blaina area and still cover other stations that are "off the run" and not able to respond to emergency calls.

The only reason Blaina is on the chart is because of the 4 hours during the national strike

The Report of the Fire Authority states "will not significantly increase the risk"..

This is a complete and utter distortion of the truth and there is not much more I can say about it.

What is the Fire Authority doing to cut costs which do not impact on frontline services?

Councillor Lisa Winnett has provided a document to the Fire and Rescue Service highlighting many ways in which savings can be made at the back-end that will not involve closing down the most efficient Fire-station in Blaenau Gwent - No offence to any other stations who also do superb work for Blaenau Gwent.

What are the salaries of the CFO, ACO and other management teams?

• Councillor Tudor Davies of Bargoed is the Chair of the South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority and received £10,085 per year for a few hours work, and I will be providing more information on this person in future articles.
• Chief Fire Officer Huw Jakeway is on a basic salary of £123,764 but this goes upto £155,000 plus with pension and other benefits.
• The Deputy Chief officer Sally Chapman is on a basic salary of £94,000 that rises to £107,000 plus with pensions and benefits.

There are then a host of other high rollers who I will not bother you with at this time.

How many staff are entitled to fringe benefits such as leased cars?

Quite a few actually.  Both Huw and his deputy get £2k per year in expenses and £6k each for cars with another 3 senior officers getting £4k each for cars.

Well there you go Nick.  As one Nantygo boy to another, I know you will do the right thing by the boys of Blaina, do not let the bean counters endanger the lives of your constituents who voted you in.