MP sounds alarm over fire service shake-up

A 12-week public consultation aiming to shape the future of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is under way

An MP has said he is "concerned" changes to the fire service in Oxfordshire could result in fewer firefighters being available.

A 12-week public consultation on the future of Oxfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is under way, with proposals to relocate crews away from larger stations and potentially close three stations.

The service said it wanted to ensure its resources were "in the right place at the right time".

But Sean Woodcock, MP for Banbury, said he struggled to see how "fewer people on the watch is an improvement in terms of making things safer for people".

The fire service said there had been a 36% decrease in the number of full-time equivalent on-call firefighters across Oxfordshire over the past decade.

It also said there were more fire engines and firefighters available at night, when demand was lowest.

The proposal would see the creation of five day-shift fire engines in Wallingford, Faringdon, Witney, Bicester and Chipping Norton.

It also includes the removal of the on-call fire engine from Oxford's Rewley Road due to low staffing levels.

A separate proposal could see fire engines moved from Rewley Road and Kidlington stations to a new station in north Oxford.

The service said on-call stations at Woodstock, Eynsham and Henley-on-Thames were being considered for closure due to "persistent low fire engine availability".

Labour MP Mr Woodcock said: "In places like Chipping Norton there won't be a full-time firefighter in the evening and early morning so I do have some concerns about that."

He said while it was "absolutely right to follow the evidence" when it came to deploying resources, "there probably are ways of doing that effectively that don't result in fewer firefighters being on call".

"I have concerns about it as do the FBU [Fire Brigades Union] and I know Labour councillors on Oxfordshire County Council are concerned about it as well," he said.

Sean Woodcock called on solutions that did not result in fewer firefighters being on call

Chris Wycherley, from the FBU, said surveys showed "half of all firefighters" would "actively be looking to leave Oxfordshire" if the proposals were introduced.

He said: "Whilst putting on more appliances in the day, you have a reduction in night cover to only five guaranteed fire appliances, and that's a time when people are most at risk in their homes."

But Rob MacDougall, the county's chief fire officer, said: "The daytime is our busiest period so what we're looking at trying to do with these proposals is move some of our wholetime resources so they can respond during the day at those five locations."

He said data showed this would result in "better response times to the whole of Oxfordshire".

"We recognise that our response times are starting to slow down and have done for a number of years, and these proposals would allow us to make sure we can provide a better response time moving into the future," he added.