Fire service opens consultation on response times

Kent Fire and Rescue Service is also asking people to comment on how much they pay for the service through council tax

Kent Fire and Rescue Service (KFRS) has opened a consultation on its target response times to incidents.

The plans proposed include an increase in target response times from 10 to 15 minutes for 75% of "life-threatening emergencies" in rural areas.

In urban areas, the target response time would drop from 10 to nine minutes but Ann Millington, the chief executive of KFRS, says KFRS is currently responding in an average time of eight minutes.

She told BBC Radio Kent: "We are not deliberately extending the time - we are just trying to manage expectations."

Ms Millington said: "If you have an emergency, we will still get to you in the same time we do now - we are not changing anything that will slow down our speed of response.

"These proposals are limited to the way we measure our performance."

Ann Millington says sometimes response times are "longer than anticipated."

The service said in rural areas there is less demand and a reduced chance of emergencies occurring.

Factors such as lower speed limits and country roads can contribute to slower response times in rural areas.

The service also said there can be delays in on-call firefighters getting to fire stations in more rural areas.

"Firefighters based in their local community, who go about their day-to-day lives carry a pager, and when it sounds, they have to quickly get to the fire station and out on the fire engine in under five minutes," a KFRS spokesperson said.

Ms Millington added: "We can't put a time limit on things but sometimes they take slightly longer than anticipated."

As part of the consultation, people are also being asked to comment on how much they pay for the service through council tax.

The plan has been approved by the Kent and Medway Fire and Rescue Authority - the body that governs KFRS but has been put out to public consultation.