Firefighters in Hampshire and Isle of Wight are calling for councillors to scrap “dangerous” plans to cut 30 firefighter posts.
Since 2010, Hampshire and Isle of Wight has lost nearly 1 in 4 firefighters to cuts. Now fire service leaders are proposing slashing a further £1.6 million from the frontline.
On the weekend of 28 June, Hampshire and the Isle of Wight fire and rescue service were reduced to just 23 out of 80 fire engines available due to a lack of resources. The Fire Brigades Union says that this shows that the frontline is already severely overstretched and under-resourced, and that further cuts will “push a service already on its knees to the point of critical failure.”
Over 1,000 people have signed an online petition calling for Hampshire and Isle of Wight Fire Authority and the chief fire officer to stop the cuts. The fire authority cancelled a meeting in July due to councillors failing to show up to discuss the cuts, while firefighters rallied in protest outside.
Mark Chapman, Fire Brigades Union regional secretary for the Southern region said: “Hampshire and Isle of Wight fire authority and chief fire office must put public safety first, stop these dangerous cuts and call on the government to increase central government funding and invest in the frontline.”
