'Impossible to say' whether fire alliance will result in redundancies, says Shropshire chief

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service's chief fire officer Rod Hammerton has said some "cost savings" will come out of the plan to align Shropshire and Hereford & Worcestershire's services.

The news comes as Shropshire Fire and Rescue Authority’s strategy and resources committee is due to meet today, and will be asked to approve the creation of an alliance plan.

But West Mercia’s police and crime commissioner John Campion has criticised details of the formal alliance, saying its aspirations were “not far reaching enough”.

He was also critical at the lack of plans to work closer with West Mercia Police.

Both fire authorities are taking legal action after Mr Campion’s plans to take them over was approved by former Home Secretary Amber Rudd in March.

Mr Campion also requested that he be more involved in the governance of the alliance, which has three levels.

Mr Hammerton has now said that the alliance will focus on changes which will have the "most positive outcomes".

He added: "It would be impossible to say at this stage whether the outcome of our plan to review and align the leadership teams within the two fire and rescue services would provoke any redundancy situations.

Reforming

"However, while we would expect some cost savings to come out of new ways of working, the alliance’s primary ambition is to create greater capacity and resilience for the two fire and rescue services – enabling them to sustain, and where necessary improve, the level of service they already provide our communities.

"The alliance plan is to take a 'bottom up' approach to reforming services, focusing on where any changes can have the most positive outcomes.

"It is expected that this upward pressure will demand that management structures are reformed and refined to meet their needs rather than the other way around.

"This way of working keeps the focus on providing the public with the best service rather than simply trying to cut costs and will deliver a management team that is 'fit for purpose' as the partnership evolves."

Mr Hammerton added: "I think the alliance is an exciting way to deliver a sustainable service to the communities of Shropshire and Herefordshire and Worcestershire by two fire services working together where it makes most sense such as policy, IT, procurement, training and HR.

"The changes will also ensure we are able to support each other even more effectively in front line services such as fire safety enforcement, prevention and incident response."

Once the strategic alliance plan is confirmed, the next step will be to set up a governance framework and prepare a plan to carry out actions in the alliance plan.