At last night’s full council meeting, the council approved the Annual Fire and Rescue Report prepared by Chief Fire Officer, Paul Street.
Presented by the Cabinet member for Fire, Culture and Residents’ Services, Cllr Barry Abraham outlined the key points of the report and ended by stating that he believed the council had made the right decision with the modernisation and move of the control centre to Surrey.
His move for the report to be approved by the council was seconded by Cllr Ian Ward.
Why no debate?
During questions from members, Cllr Churchman asked why the issue of the control centre move had not been brought to full council and debated.
Cllr Abraham refuted this suggestion saying that it had been discussed in September 2010 and again during the budget review in February.
He stated that when the four alternative budgets had been brought before the council in February, that he’d specifically asked those presenting their alternative budgets whether they were happy with the merger. According to Cllr Abraham, no-one disagreed.
He also went on to say that IW FBU members had been fully consulted all through the process and that he believed they were happy with the merger. This was the opposite of views from FBU members in the public gallery.
Has IWC missed the boat?
Cllr Wesford questioned the timescales of the merger of the control centre.
VB readers will remember that there is a window between April-October 2011 for the merger to be accepted and implemented in order to avoid any disruption to the Surrey control centre in relation to the London Olympics.
He asked whether the IWC had missed the boat or not. Cllr Abraham assured members that there were no issues with the timescales. He confirmed that work was taking place to test the system and a full ‘cutover’ would be in place by November, possibly December – adding that this later date would have no impact on the Olympic coverage for Surrey.
Surrey committed to needs of the Island
Cllr Pugh informed members that the Leader of Surrey county council had this week written to IWC confirming their commitment to the needs of Isle of Wight.
All 34 councillors present at last night’s meeting voted to accept the report.
Cllr Barry refuted Cllr Sutton’s claims
Following the vote and in response to a claim made by Cllr Sutton that under the previous administration, the fire service was at risk of ending up in the Government’s hands, Cllr Reg Barry refuted this claim.
He went on to say that “there was never any possibility of the fire service being taken over by the Government,” under the previous administration.
Cllr Sutton replied that when he became leader, he met with Ministers on a monthly basis to fight to keep fire service on the Island, adding that he was glad to see the fire service had been taken forward thanks to Paul Street and his staff.
The annual report is embedded below for your convenience.
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