North Yorkshire’s Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner is set to face further scrutiny over plans to cut the number of night-time fire engines in Harrogate to just one.
Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe will face councillors at a special meeting of North Yorkshire County Council’s Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee next Thursday.
The plans, which are currently out to consultation, have already been criticised as “putting money before lives”.
The Fire Brigades Union also described the proposals as “seriously concerning”.
The plans would see Harrogate fire station continue to have two fire engines during the day, but just one between 10pm and 9am when fewer incidents usually occur.
The move would also mean some of the fire station’s 40 crew members are moved to different stations or roles.
Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road
A report to Thursday’s meeting said Harrogate is of a “predominantly low combined fire risk” and that this “does not warrant” two 24-hour fire engines.
Commissioner Metcalfe has also insisted the fire service would “continue to provide an immediate emergency response” during the night.
Yet concerns remain that the move would increase response times if multiple emergencies occur during late hours and back-up vehicles have to travel further from outside of Harrogate.
Steve Howley, secretary of the North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union, previously urged the public to reject the proposals which he said would “put lives at risk.” He said:
“The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner needs to fight for the correct funding from government, not simply mask underfunding by slashing services and providing the public of North Yorkshire with a second-rate emergency response service.”
Save £1.5m a year
Ms Metcalfe said the plans – which also include cuts to services in York and Scarborough – would save over £1.5 million a year, yet she insisted they are not cost-cutting measures.
She also said the savings would allow for investment in fire prevention.
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The proposals are part of the fire service’s Risk and Resource Model which sets out how it will deploy staff and equipment across North Yorkshire over the next three years.
The consultation will run until August 14 and residents are being urged to give their feedback online.
Commissioner Metcalfe said in a statement:
“The role of a fire and rescue service has changed and continues to change, with only 26% of our incidents last year relating to a fire emergency.
“We want to ensure we are addressing our current and future challenges and that we have the capacity to prevent and stop incidents happening in the first place.
“Inevitably, there are some areas where the setup of the service would change but I’m confident the right people, right equipment and the right support would continue to be available to everyone.”
To have your say go to www.TellCommissionerZoe.co.uk
Harrogate firefighter brands plans to rely on one fire engine ‘farcical’A Harrogate firefighter has spoken out against proposals to cut the number of overnight fire engines in the town.
North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner’s Office held a roadshow in Harrogate town centre yesterday to discuss its new three-year plan for the county’s fire service.
Its proposals include reducing the number of fire engines stationed in Harrogate overnight from two to one.
The plans would also see the station lose its tactical response vehicle, which would be moved to an on-call station elsewhere in the county.
The Stray Ferret went along to yesterday’s roadshow, which was not attended by Zoe Metcalfe, the police, fire and crime commissioner.
We spoke to Harrogate resident and firefighter of 16 years, Steve Applewood, who described the plans as “ridiculous” and a matter of huge concern.
He said a large fire or a fire that puts lives at risk required two water pumps and therefore two fire engines.
Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road.
If only one was available at night, Harrogate firefighters would have to wait 10 minutes for a crew to arrive from Knaresborough, he added.
“A 10-minute wait at a house fire is a long time. It also doesn’t give your first breathing apparatus crew a back-up team so in 10 minutes they could have worn down their air supply but with the delay on the second unit there isn’t another crew to take over straight away.
“Or sometimes, tactically, we send two teams in two directions and we wouldn’t have that option straight away.”
Changes are ‘farcical’
Currently one emergency fire engine and a tactical response unit operate in Harrogate overnight, which Mr Appleword accepted did not guarantee two crews with breathing apparatus. But he said the driver of the tactical response unit could become another member of the breathing apparatus crew if necessary.
He said colleagues thought the proposed changes were “farcical” adding:
“I’m against most of them, I think it’s ridiculous they’re looking at cutting the cover in Harrogate by 50%. It’s a real concern for us, a 10-minute wait could be the difference between life and death.”
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Currently, 10 crew members cover each shift in Harrogate and Mr Appleyard said the amount of new housing being built in the town was an added factor to consider with any planned reduction in service.
Councillors and a firefighter’s union have raised their concerns in recent weeks.
Tom Thorp, deputy monitoring officer for the commissioner’s office, who spoke to people at yesterday’s event, told us:
“It’s been a mix [of opinions], people can see the sense in some of it and for others it’s a concern. For us it’s about explaining the proposals and getting people’s opinions.”
Staff from the commissioner’s office will be holding pop-up roadshows across the county over the next nine weeks, returning to Harrogate on July 19.
People are encouraged to complete a survey on the proposals and share their views.
Focus on preventing fires
Ms Metcalfe has previously said her proposals focus on preventing fires.
Policing in Ripon comes under a barrage of fire“The role of a fire and rescue service has changed and continues to change, with only 26% of our incidents last year relating to a fire emergency.
“We want to ensure we are addressing our current and future challenges and that we have the capacity to prevent and protect to stop incidents happening in the first place and prevent harm before it can take place, while also having the capacity to respond to emergencies when they do take place. We are confident these proposals would do that.
“Inevitably, there are some areas where the setup of the service would change but I’m confident the right people, right equipment and the right support would continue to be available to everyone.”
Policing in Ripon came under a barrage of fire last night at a packed public meeting at the Jack Laugher Leisure and Wellness Centre.
Insp. Alex Langley, who heads Ripon’s neighbourhood policing team, chaired the hour-long meeting and faced a potent mix of concerned residents and newly-elected city councillors.
The councillors came fresh from weeks of pre-election doorstep meetings where thousands of voters put Ripon’s recurring problem of anti-social behaviour top of the agenda.
Among the attendees were residents who have suffered violent attacks at the hands of young thugs and witnessed their property being destroyed in incidents for which nobody appears to have been prosecuted.
Youths with iron bars attacked this car in a residential street, as the owner rang 999 and waited for police to arrive.
A taxi driver, who has both suffered and witnessed violence while on the rank in Market Place East, has also been threatened and seen hooded youths using iron bars to smash cars and house windows in the street where he lives.
He asked Insp. Langley:
“How many people have been identified, arrested and prosecuted after being caught on city centre cctv or reported by somebody who has rung 101?”
When Insp Langley said he did not have that information, the taxi driver responded:
“It is clear to me that the CCTV cameras are not being monitored by anybody. In the past you could see the cameras moving, showing they were in use, but that doesn’t happen any more.”
City centre CCTV failings
The Mayor of Ripon, Councillor Eamon Parkin asked:
“With the CCTV all around Market Square, why has nobody been arrested and prosecuted for any of the four attacks on the Cabmen’s Shelter?”
No arrests have been made or prosecutions brought against the vandal or vandals who have targeted the Cabmen’s Shelter
Insp Langley replied:
“You can have the best quality CCTV images, but if the vandals are wearing hoodies and have their faces covered — it’s difficult to identify them.
“The latest attack on the Cabmen’s Shelter was reported three days after the vandalism was noticed.
“Do you want officers to spend their time looking through three days’ of CCTV footage?”
There was a resounding response of ‘yes’ from the floor.
Cllr Pauline McHardy said:
“The shelter is a rare building that belongs to the city and was refurbished at a cost of £22,000 and we want to catch and prosecute the vandals”
Cllr Andrew Williams said:
“When charges were brought in by Harrogate Borough Council for parking on Market Square, the money raised was supposed to be used to pay for the CCTV cameras and monitoring, so what is happening with that money now?
“It looks as if the cameras covering Market Square are not fit for purpose and footage being captured by them is not being monitored.”
Police and Crime Commissioner did not attend
Cllr Williams said that this and other matters impacting on the effectiveness of policing in Ripon had been raised with North Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner Zoe Metcalfe, to whom a formal complaint had been made by the city council.
He said:
“We are still awaiting a response from her and it is very disappointing to say the least that she is not in attendance tonight to hear the concerns raised by Ripon’s residents.”
Cllr Barbara Brodigan, who is newly-elected to serve on the North Yorkshire unitary authority as well as the city council, said:
“We were told by former commissioner Julia Mulligan that the money raised from selling the police station on North Street would be used to pay for more police officers, but there is no evidence of this and people are not receiving the high visibility policing that they want.”
Unanswered 101 calls
In addition to use of CCTV and police resources, concerns were raised throughout the meeting about the delay in getting a response to 101 calls.
A resident told the meeting:
“When I rang up to report a gang of youths causing trouble near my house, I got no reply and after the same happened on another occasion, I just gave up, thinking that I was wasting my time.”
That feeling of frustration was echoed throughout the meeting and heightened when Councillor Tony Duncan was told by Insp Langley that he would need to submit a Freedom of Information request to find out how many 101 calls to Ripon police go unanswered.
An estimated 80 people attended the meeting, many of them standing.
At the start of the meeting when Insp Langley showed a graph indicating a downward trend over the past 22 month of recorded anti-social behaviour incidents in the Minster Ward, his presentation was interrupted by Cllr Williams, who said:
“I’m sorry, but I have to stop you there. These statistics are flawed, by virtue of the fact that so many people who try to get through on 101 give up after being kept waiting for so long.
“Showing a graph like this and presenting it as fact, does not reflect the actual experience of thousands of people that I and other councillors were told about on the doorstep before the election.”
The 101 problem
Insp. Langley accepted that there is a problem with the 101 system that needs to be resolved and throughout the meeting, pointed out that he and fellow officers are doing their best for Ripon, often ‘with their backs against the wall.’
Clllr McHardy said:
“We appreciate you coming here tonight and answering our questions and would like to point out that comments made here are not aimed at you, but are for those senior to you who make the decisions and need to provide you with the resources that you need to do your job.
“There has been a sizeable increase in the precept that we pay through our council tax for policing in Ripon, but the commissioner is nowhere to be seen this evening to tell us what she is going to do to support you and your officers.”
Police: meeting ‘highlighted real challenges’
After the meeting, Insp Langley in an email to the Stray Ferret, said:
“It was a really good meeting and highlighted some of the real challenges that Ripon face. There is a real balance to be had around national type challenges and those wider issues such as 101, recruitment, funding and HBC CCTV that it’s really important that we discuss.
“Equally there is limited scope and control that I have on those topics but it’s good to discuss them.
“I hope at the next meeting that we can spend less time on those wider issues as we have discussed them and focus more on local Ripon issues. I would have liked to have focused more on the today problems and areas that I can direct my teams towards. The next meeting we should be able to get more into that level of detail and discuss other issues.”
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