Hampshire Fire Chief Neil Odin on proposed cuts

Tindle News

An outgoing fire chief has warned £1.7 million in proposed cuts are untenable decisions – but things are going to get worse if the government does not give the service more money. Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service chief fire officer Neil Odin has warned the cuts, which would see a total of 24 job losses and £1.7m in cuts in a year, is “doable, but it is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to challenging times for the future”. The decision to make the cuts was delayed at a meeting last week to allow time to try to find the additional funding.

Transcript

00:00Can you give me your name and your rank please?

00:05Neil Odin, I'm the Chief Fire Officer for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Farm Rescue Service.

00:09Neil, what's the decision here today? What are the implications?

00:13What is the decision and what are the implications moving forward?

00:16So the Fire and Rescue Service here in Hampshire and Isle of Wight faces some really difficult choices.

00:20So we have a deficit in the funding we receive from not only government,

00:24but also in terms of what we can gather in capital tax.

00:27And so we have to make some difficult operational choices about how we spend that money.

00:31And so we've looked very carefully over the last 18 months about what we can change.

00:35And so we've decided to essentially combine some vehicles to make sure all the equipment is still carried,

00:40but on one vehicle instead of two, that saves us 16 firefighter posts.

00:44We've also decided to not use some of the stations that aren't used across the Isle of Wight,

00:48taking away some, on a temporary basis, some second appliances across the county

00:53and some quieter, low risk areas.

00:55And we'll be testing that over the next year.

00:57And a number of other measures that just allow us to bring our spend,

01:00operational spend, into line with our budget.

01:03I would say this is the tip of the iceberg when it comes to challenging times in the future.

01:07And I know, looking at the government's plans for funding for fire services,

01:11this is going to get a lot worse.

01:13And so this year is about trying to make do, but the coming years are going to be much harder.

01:17And certainly we hope that politicians can step in and make a difference for us

01:21in terms of the funding available for chief officers in the future to make decisions which are safe.

01:26So the reassurances that you have been asked to look at after this meeting,

01:33that is for making 16 redundancies and losing eight managers at fire stations in Hampshire.

01:43What's going to happen there?

01:46So we'll look carefully at one of the findings of the emergency inspectorate in terms of our workforce planning.

01:52And so we plan currently to have 16 firefighters less.

01:56And that's behind the scenes.

01:57So the number of fire engines available is no less.

01:59There's no change there.

02:00It's how we resource those fire engines from behind the scenes.

02:03So that will change.

02:04But in particular, we'll be looking at managers, management costs and support staff costs in headquarters

02:11and other places to make sure the balance of costs aren't always on the front line.

02:14And we're really careful to protect our front line.

02:17So today's decision is to make sure that nothing's changed since our inspectorate report.

02:21Nothing's changed since the mayoral announcement about future governance of fire rescue,

02:27which will change my current position on the recommendations.

02:30So is this the least worst of a difficult decision?

02:35Yeah, I mean, these are untenable decisions we're making now.

02:38Deciding whether to spend money to protect firefighters against dangerous contamination,

02:41against how do we keep the numbers of firefighters available to us to protect our communities.

02:47So these are impossible decisions to make.

02:49And we're balancing as best we can, given the funding that we've got.

02:52Thank you, Neil.

02:54Can I ask you now about this is your this is your last meeting as chief fire officer.

03:01So how long have you been in the service chief fire officer?

03:05And how do you feel now that you're departing?

03:09Gosh, so I'm a firefighter of 34 years experience.

03:12And it's been my life of fire rescue service both here and the neighbouring county of West Sussex.

03:17So for me to be the chief for the last seven years here in Hampshire has been a privilege of my life.

03:22It's been a tough seven years.

03:24And the years before that, as a principal officer, always trying to make sure we spend money well.

03:29And we need a fantastic organisation to do things they do.

03:32I couldn't be more proud of this organisation and the people in it and the work we do to protect our public every day.

03:37And to say that I move on with a smile on my face is important.

03:42But actually, I recognise the challenges this organisation and the fire sector has right now.

03:47And part of me wants to stay and help resolve.

03:50But it's time for me to move on and others to take their chance to fight that fight

03:54and ensure that our frontline heroes are protected in the current climate.

03:58And will you be volunteering at your local fire station as a returned firefighter?

04:03Oh, I'd love to, I'm sure. My wife will have a few words to say about that.

04:06But I'll continue to, I'll keep an eye on the fire service from afar and I'll continue to support them wherever I can.

04:11It's a fantastic institution and Ernie has been a fantastic employer for me over those 34 years.

04:16I know the good it's done in society and I'm very proud of that.

04:20You're very welcome.

04:22Cheers.

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