Retained Firefighters

Part of the debate – in the House of Commons at 7:20 pm on 14 July 2010.

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Photo of Nadhim Zahawi Nadhim Zahawi Conservative, Stratford-on-Avon 7:20, 14 July 2010

We have heard a most eloquent speech from my hon. Friend Dan Byles about retained firefighters and their importance to their communities and to the fire service itself. He is fortunate in having some certainty about Bedworth fire station; unfortunately, I cannot report the same to the House from Stratford-on-Avon.

Our chief fire officer has had the difficult task of drawing up proposals for improving Warwickshire's fire and rescue service. He took on the role from his predecessor after a difficult period involving a consultation process that I think Warwickshire Members would agree was flawed. That process did a lot of damage to the community's confidence in the fire service and in a decision-making process that could lead to such unfortunate events.

The county council will discuss and evaluate three options for Warwickshire on Friday, two of which are extremely negative for us in Stratford-on-Avon. I will not dwell too long on those, but I shall speak about the third option, which is positive in the sense that we would retain Bidford and Studley fire stations.

Let me say a few words about the response of retained firefighters and the local community to the consultation on improving Warwickshire's fire services. The way in which they have reacted has been exemplary. They have not been a barrier to change and improvement; indeed, their approach has been proactive, and when they were asked to step up to the mark, they did so by putting forward a credible set of proposals. Those proposals have made their way into option C, which involves retaining Bidford and Studley fire stations, and perhaps into option B, which would retain Bidford although, unfortunately, we would lose Studley.

I am worried that the chief fire officer has heavily skewed the process due to his announcement in his report that he prefers the option under which we would lose those retained fire stations and their good fire personnel. He has stated that

"All three models will improve the level of resources available in Warwickshire for community fire safety, dealing with small fires, road traffic incidents and incidents of flooding", so I am slightly concerned and puzzled about why he would choose option A, given that option C would certainly be a credible approach.

I am aware that other Members wish to speak, but before I conclude, I wish to make a point about the idea that we need to improve fire safety. Many members of the public erroneously believe that their safety depends primarily on the proximity of a fire station.