It’s clear that discussion between the Isle of Wight council and the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) about changes to the Island’s fire service have broken down.
So much so that the FBU is threatening legal action if the IWC decides to make the changes. In the words of Ricky Matthews, FBU regional secretary, “Unfortunately if the Council agrees the proposals presented to them it will leave the FBU little alternative other than to begin legal action.”
Decision expected Thursday
VentnorBlog understand that the cabinet member responsible, Cllr Barry Abrahams, is expected to make a Delegated Decision (not publicly debated) next Thursday, choosing if the Island’s Fire Control service – the people who you speak to when you call 999 – should be moved to Surrey.
Before a major decision like this is made, a report is compiled by IW council officers, giving the elected councillor the background to make the decision.
“Lack of foresight”
The Island fire service has seen a copy of the report and the FBU rep, Andrew Cooper, says, “The lack of foresight, depth and clarity in this report is astounding.”
They also claim that the report only considers the option to outsource to Surrey, failing to adequately explain why other local solutions have not been researched, costed and presented as an alternative.
Island control centre not visited
Clearly that makes them unhappy, as does what they told us, that three IW councillors are happy to go to Surrey to look at Fire Control but have refused to go to the Island’s.
People working for the fire brigade have told VentnorBlog of their concerns over the proposed changes. They also say they’re really perturbed that issues that they have raised haven’t appeared in the report that they’ve seen, that was compiled by council officers to give to councillors.
FBU: “Shelve this botched proposal”
The FBU’s Ricky Matthews concluded, “We strongly urge Councillors & The Chief fire officer to shelve this botched proposal and enter into meaningful consultation with the FBU and the Islands professional command & control staff to find a suitable alternative solution.”
More information in their press release.
Image: designshard under CC BY 2.0
