Isle of Wight Consultation

A reduction in the headquarters senior team by four posts has already been implemented and we are now restructuring the number of middle managers across our operational structure.   

We have undertaken a review of our support staff and looked at the roles to identify savings that can be made. The Service has offered a voluntary arrangement first to avoid compulsory redundancy.    

Risk assessment work and analysis show that we have resources that are not required or currently used. Although this consultation focuses on changes affecting the Isle of Wight we are also making changes across the Service area: 

• A pilot to test the removal of some of the less frequently used fire engines at four of our on-call stations where we currently have two fire engines (Romsey, Waterlooville, Petersfield, Lymington). While these stations will remain operational with one fire engine, we will be removing the second for the next year.   
• Introduction of a new type of vehicle that combines the capabilities of a specialist vehicle and fire engine in one. This will mean we can crew the affected stations differently and will mean a reduction in 20 firefighter posts across two stations (Redbridge and Cosham), but this will not result in any redundancies and will be managed through turnover as people leave the Service and through transfers to other stations.  

Find out more about these proposals

Since the Isle of Wight combined with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service in 2021, we have heavily invested in the island’s fire and rescue capabilities. 

We have increased our wholetime operational cover at Ryde Fire station to provide increased 24/7 wholetime firefighter cover for the Isle of Wight. This means the Service can offer a quicker response to incidents and take part in more prevention work including home fire safety visits in the evening.  

Since the combination we regularly move our fire engines to ensure fire cover and resource significant incidents as they occur. We continue to provide crewed fire engines from the mainland to island where there may be crewing shortfalls on particular days, enhancing our ability to provide additional resources when we need them. 

We have also invested over £14 million in the estate across the Isle of Wight, to improve our buildings. We are progressing the rebuild of East Cowes Fire Station. This investment will not only see the return of operational fire crews to the town but will also make best use of the site with the addition of much-needed vehicle maintenance facilities. 

The proposals will not result in a change in the number of currently operational fire engines. It will see the one fire engine housed at the Bembridge station removed but this has not been in operation for five years. 

We are not looking to reduce the number of operational firefighters through these changes. The posts on the books for Bembridge would be removed but these posts have been vacant since 2020 so do not impact current levels of fire cover. 

We have recently increased the number of firefighters at Ryde which is now continuously crewed 24/7with immediate response by full time firefighters. 

We will also continue our efforts to recruit on-call firefighters on the Isle of Wight 

The changes to Bembridge and Yarmouth/Freshwater are formalising what we have in place now, so there will be no change in our fire cover compared to how we are currently operating. 

An ALP is designed to disperse water onto buildings from above. This is normally for use at incidents where it may be inaccessible to do so from the ground. These vehicles are also used to assist in rescues from tall structures and provide observation platforms. These appliances are particularly useful in scenarios where access to elevated areas is needed, such as in tall buildings or difficult terrain. 

Our data analysis indicates that we need to maintain only one ALP on the island.  

• There have been no instances where both ALPs have been used at different incidents at the same time.
• There have only been three occasions since 2020 where both ALPs have attended the same incident. 

In the very unlikely event it was needed at the same or a co-occurring separate incident, a second ALP from the mainland could be deployed to the island.   

If for any reason the Ryde ALP is not available, an ALP from the mainland could be deployed to the island for that period of time. 

On-call firefighters are vital to our service, and we value their dedication and flexibility. They respond to emergencies from home or work, often within four minutes. However, we understand this can be challenging due to other commitments, making it harder to recruit and retain on-call firefighters, especially during the day. This is a widespread issue caused by societal changes since this crewing system was first designed. 

Recruiting on-call firefighters in Yarmouth has proven particularly challenging due to the demographics of the area, making it one of the hardest stations to recruit to across Hampshire and Isle of Wight.   

Recruitment efforts over previous years have not identified any successful applicants for the Bembridge station and our detailed analysis shows that Bembridge will remain a very challenging location for recruitment, with, for example, 43% of the resident population being over 65, which is the highest level of any current station in the service.   

The proposed changes are being considered based on risk assessment and data analysis that have shown that we have resources that are not required or being used. The changes are about having the right resources in the right place to meet the identified risks in our communities.  

The changes would also contribute to our wider savings plan as there are annual costs associated with having unused stations including fleet and equipment costs and building maintenance.  

No decision has been made on this. Freeing up the under-used stations, would allow the fire authority to explore options for the buildings, including generating further savings through the land or site. ​

After consultation the Chief Fire Officer will review the business case and consultation feedback and will make the decision on the operational changes.  

The decision will then go to the Fire Authority to scrutinise on 29 August. 

Any subsequent decisions about the buildings and land will be for the Fire Authority to determine.