Issue - meetings

One petition with 6,089 signatures had been received. It requested that the Council ‘Reverse cuts to Surrey Fire and Rescue Service’. The response to the petition was published as part of the supplementary agenda and on the petition’s website. Ms Emma Kennedy presented the petition.

One petition with 6,089 signatures had been received. It requested that the Council ‘Reverse cuts to Surrey Fire and Rescue Service’. The response to the petition was published as part of the supplementary agenda and on the petition’s website. Ms Emma Kennedy presented the petition stating that on 7 August the fire on Chobham Common was designated as a major national incident with the cuts imposed by the council meaning that appliances were not available. Chobham common is a national nature reserve and the council has a duty to protect it but how removing the nearest fire crew does not fulfil that duty. This year there has been a 388% increase in London Fire Brigade having to attend in Surrey. Surrey now has the lowest number of Fire and Rescue personnel per 1000 of the population and coverage is falling faster than all the 14 authorities with the exception of Cambridgeshire. Cabinet was asked to re-evaluate plans to cut further appliances and commit to maintaining Chobham as  24/7 fire station.

The Cabinet Member for Communities thanked the petitioner and stated that Local intelligence on risky places and vulnerable people helps us keep our residents safe and shape what we do. Focus groups would be set up in coming months to engage with local communities.  The Surrey Safer Plan aligns resource to risk and rural affairs officers will ensure responsible Land Management and prevent wildfires in conjunction with our communities. Advanced technology enables us to operate dynamically and deploy the nearest fire engine to an incident. The dynamic cover tool presentation will be available on the council website in the new few weeks. Assurance has been received from Brunel university with a number of recommendations which the service will take into account with regards to the Surrey Safer Plan which has been fully validated.

Ms Emma Kennedy stated that she would like to take part in the focus groups and asked the Cabinet to think about the risk based cover the plan is based on which she believed is meaningless as fires are unforeseeable events. There were a number of areas that the council could commit to including making Chobham 24/7. The Cabinet Member for Communities stated that SFRS was equipped and resourced to manage a very broad range of fire and rescue incidents on a daily basis.

Mr David Mansfield, County Councillor for Bisley, Lightwater and West End asked why Chobham fire station only continues on a retained crew basis. The Cabinet Member for Communities explained that the provision of the resource would be consistent with the risk profile which would take into account provision in neighbouring fire stations. As the risk adjusts any additional resource would be identified and provided for. It was agreed that a written reply would be organised.