West Midlands Fire Service losing six staff per month
West Midlands fire service is losing six uniformed staff a month, it has emerged, with bosses voicing fears for the future in the wake of proposed £30 million cuts.
The service has seen £10.2m worth of cuts between 2011 and 2013, and expect to have to make £13.5 million more between 2013 and 2015 and £11.2m from 2015 to 2017. West Midlands Fire Authority Chairman John Edwards says it has been hit hard, and fears that when the full extent of cuts are revealed it could be in an even worse situation.
The service has had a recruitment freeze in place since 2010, and Mr Edwards said it is losing six uniformed staff per month through retirement and workers moving on.
It expects to be down from 1,800 staff in 2010 to 1250 by the end of 2015.
The authority has already closed Halesowen fire station, lost an engine and no longer staffs Tettenhall station overnight.
The service is now moving towards smaller brigade response vehicles which are only staffed by three crew rather than the normal engines which are staffed by five.
It has three of these vehicles on trial now, and expects to have more soon.
Mr Edwards said: "These vehicles require fewer staff but they cannot deal with larger fires. Due to safety reasons they cannot go to a house fire for example.
"In December we have already dealt with nine serious fires, where people have needed to be rescued.
"These are life and death situations and if we hadn't been there, their lives could potentially have been lost."
He added: "People in the average council tax band don't realise we only receive £47 from their council tax, less than a pound a day. When the full extent of the cuts are announced in December we will know more but we are very worried that they could be more than we are expecting.
"If they are we will have to look at other ways to make savings and this could be more job losses and station closures."
