Have you say on future of fire service in Skegness

A public meeting is being held at the Fire Station in Churchill Avenue at 6.30pm tomorrow (Thursday).

The meeting is part of a consultation by Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue running until May 16 and concerns seven proposals.

These include the removal of an aerial ladder platform from Skegness and permanently locating it in Boston.

Proposals are:

Proposal 1 - IRMP Baseline Document 2016-2020

This is a core document which identifies those risks to the community that we, as a fire and rescue service, can do something about. It also outlines the key strategies that we will adopt over the period to reduce those risks. Our draft IRMP Baseline Document 2016-2020 is now available for comment below.

Proposal 2 - Potential Savings

It is expected the Lincolnshire County Council will have to find a further £130million by 2018-19. Although fire and rescue remains a high priority service, the scale of the overall savings required are such that further reductions in the service’s budget will be necessary. The proposal Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue is consulting on this year to support anticipated savings is to change Lincoln South fire station from the shift duty system to the Lincolnshire Crewing System.

Proposal 3 - Reduce the Number of Rescue Support Units

At present there are two Rescue Support Units (RSU) serving the county. These vehicles are mobilised to provide additional support for more complex incidents, including breathing apparatus, chemical decontamination and road traffic collisions. Given the utilisation rate and the fact that some of the specialist equipment on the RSU is now available on front line fire engines, it is considered that only one RSU is now required in the service. The intent would be to locate the remaining RSU within the county to ensure maximum operational effectiveness.

Proposal 4 - Permanently Relocate an Aerial Ladder Platform to Boston

In June 2013 Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue replaced its three hydraulic platforms with two aerial ladder platforms (ALP). As part of that change it was agreed that one would be located at Lincoln South fire station and the second located at Boston during the winter and Skegness during the summer. There appears to be little evidence to support the perceived greater risk in the Skegness area during the summer months so it is proposed to permanently locate the second ALP at Boston. This will provide more equitable and improved geographical cover across the county.

Proposal 5 - Further Develop the Joint Ambulance Conveyance Project

Lincolnshire’s Joint Ambulance Conveyance Project (JACP) was designed to improve patient care through enhanced ambulance provision. This innovative joint project involving Lincolnshire Fire and Rescue, East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS) and Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Service (LIVES) has demonstrated how closer integration between partners can help improve services to the local community in a cost effective way. The 12 month pilot, which has run from three fire stations around the county, has delivered significant benefits to a range of stakeholders. Given its success, and assuming appropriate funding can be identified, our proposal is that the JACP continues to operate from the three existing locations and is further expanded to five other fire stations around the County.

Proposal 6 - Introduce a cost recovery process for attendance to Unwanted Fire Signals

With an increase in the installation of automatic fire alarm and detection systems in commercial premises, there has also been an increase in the number of false alarms. It is hoped the proposal will deter businesses which impose a significant burden on the fire service through repeated false alarms.

Proposal 7 - Service Priorities for 2016-17

This proposal suggests operational and improvement priorities for 2016/17 should remain the same as last year:

Operational Priorities

- Reduce fires and their consequences

- Reduce road traffic collisions and their consequences

- Improve health and wellbeing

Improvement Priorities

- Ensure our Retained Duty System remains fit for purpose

- Continue to enhance the effectiveness of our collaborative working

- Continue to develop our Information Communications Technology capability