Alun Davies AM's response to the Fire Service's Fire Cover Review

Alun Davies AM with Councillor Winnett, Mrs Griffin and some of Blaina Fire Crew

The following is the response made by our Welsh Assembly Member, Alun Davies to the Fire Cover Review, which includes the proposal to close Blaina fire station.  I have taken the liberty of emboldening several points that I think most important .....

I would like to object to the proposal to close Blaina Fire Station. This is a station that functions very well and provides an excellent service to the community. The station has an excellent record in terms of the availability of the station and its response times and regularly is able to deliver a response to incidents that exceeds that predicted or expected by the Service. In responding to the FCR I have taken some time to review the fire cover in Blaenau Gwent and have been surprised to find that some of our stations are not regularly available to provide cover.


For instance, the excellent rescue service provided by Ebbw Vale and the contribution that station makes to wider service delivery means that it is not available for fire calls in Blaenau Gwent on a regular basis. Taken together with other staffing issues this means that the Blaina crew and their excellent record of availability is of even greater importance in terms of continuity of cover. I am not sure if this has been adequately covered within the FCR and would be grateful if the SWFRS could respond more fully to these matters.

I am very concerned that an additional impact of the FCR and the closure of Blaina Fire Station is the removal of one appliance from the Blaenau Gwent area. I note the points made in the FCR on response times within the borough and the conclusions of the FCR that the removal of an appliance would not have a detrimental impact on response times. However I am not convinced by the SWFRS arguments on this point and I have further concerns about the availability of crews from Blaenau Gwent stations which will lead to additional and unacceptable pressures on the Service.

I am additionally concerned that the SWFRS has not fully taken into account the industrial and commercial developments taking place in the borough. There are a significant number of developments taking place and some newly completed and these are not noted in the FCR. However there are also a number of developments which will have an impact on the fire cover required in the future which are not fully described in the document.

Firstly the development of the Circuit of Wales in Ebbw Vale will be a major development, potentially one of the biggest single investments in the SWFRS area, and this will have a considerable impact on local services. I fully understand that the Circuit will have its own emergency resources and response plans, however, it is clear that it will also require support from the established public services, including the SWFRS. I would be grateful if the Service could outline how it has taken this development into account in developing its plans.
 
Secondly, the Ebbw Vale Enterprise Zone is designed to act as a catalyst for advanced manufacturing. The Zone is currently seeing significant investment in its infrastructure and the financial packages available to businesses locating within the Zone. It is expected that this designation will lead to an increase in the number of businesses located in the borough. It is not clear from the consultation document that this has been taken into account by the SWFRS in reaching its conclusions

Finally, I am not convinced that the impact on Blaenau Gwent of changes being proposed by the SWFRS in neighbouring boroughs has been fully considered. The changes that have been taking place to the south of Abertillery will have an impact on the availability of that appliance and the area that the station will be required to cover. It is clear to me that there will be fewer resources with the closure of the Blaina station and the removal of its appliance but with the expectation that the remaining resources will cover a much larger area. At the same time the impact on the already poor response times in Blaenau Gwent will lead to an increase in the gap between the borough and the south Wales average.

In taking forward the FCR I would like to make the following proposals.

From my conversations with both yourself, your colleagues and with the local community in Blaenau Gwent I believe that there is clearly a willingness on all sides to reach a considered and agreed position for the future.

I would like to see the SWFRS working more closely with other public services and to place a far greater emphasis on shared resources and shared facilities. The Service already shares facilities in Abertillery with the Ambulance Service; in the future I would like this to be the norm rather than the exception. At the same time I would like the SWFRS to explore far greater collaboration and cooperation with local authorities to achieve a more efficient service. In the case of Blaina and the upper Ebbw Fach valley, it is clear to me that there are a number of resources in terms of land and buildings that could provide the SWFRS with an opportunity to share with either another blue light service or with the local authority. I would expect the SWFRS to explore all these options prior to pursuing the closure of Blaina Fire Station.

The removal of the appliance from Blaenau Gwent is clearly an unacceptable proposal. In my view the SWFRS should review how the appliance can be maintained in the upper Ebbw Fach valley as a part of the colocation approach.