Lib Dems: Folkestone Fire Service Consultation Misleading and Cuts Should be Cancelled

New research by the Liberal Democrats has shown up serious flaws in the information provided by Kent Fire and Rescue Service in their consultation on proposed cuts to Folkestone Fire Stations. The Liberal Democrats are saying that the information that has been provided in the consultation is misleading and not true.

The on-line survey from Kent Fire and Rescue (www.kent.fire-uk.org/publicsurvey.php?SurveyId=15) says (as the introduction to questions 12-13 on the cuts to Folkestone's service says:

"Folkestone is a very similar town to others in Kent, such as Dover, which have two fire engines. We know that removing the third fire engine will have no impact on risk - but we will understand if you have concerns about this action."

The Liberal Democrats undertook the detailed examination of the "Technical Appendices" to the cuts to Folkestone, which are only available on request from the Fire Authority. In doing so, they have found evidence which shows the Fire Authority's statement to be misleading and inaccurate.

The report shows that Folkestone is almost twice the size of Dover (as well as being geographically the largest fire ground in Kent). It also shows a significant increase in risk of fatalities due to road traffic accidents if the proposed cuts go ahead.

The Liberal Democrats are calling on the threatened cuts to be withdrawn on safety grounds and due to the flawed consultation. Shepway Liberal Democrat Group Leader Lynne Beaumont said:

"The Liberal Democrats have said all along that the cuts would be devastating to Folkestone, but now the Fire Authority's own figures have shown their consultation is simply not true.

"To even consider pushing ahead with the cuts given the misleading nature of their survey would leave Kent Fire and Rescue completely open to legal challenge. The threat of cuts at Folkestone should be withdrawn as soon as possible."

"No Impact on Risk"

Section 65 (page 9) of the report shows that the risk of a fatality due to a Road Traffic Accident will increase by around 1 extra death every seven years.

"65. The modelling undertaken suggests that there will be no increase in the risk of Emergency Special Service risk, which includes RTC incidents, resulting from the removal of the Retained appliance from Folkestone, whilst removal of the Wholetime appliance would result in a minimal annual increase of 0.144 fatalities."

In the last six years, there have been just 3 RTC deaths in the area according to the Fire Service figures (Table 18 page 62). The increase in fatality risk therefore is around a 25% increase in the current fatality risk.

Dover and Folkestone are "very similar"

Table 2 on page 39 of the report shows the population of Dover is 30,327 and Folkestone at 56,490. In terms of the number of dwellings, Table 4 on page 40 shows also has around 80% more dwellings than Dover (24,225 to 13,256).

Section 142 (page 23) shows that Folkestone attends almost 50% more special service calls than Dover - hardly "very similar".

"142. Emergency special service incident activity over the past few years has shown similar changes in profile for Folkestone and Dover, although the level of activity is different for the two stations. Against the baseline period of 1991-1994, Folkestone saw a significant peak in the period 1995-1998 during which the number of calls almost doubled. This has reduced in the subsequent years with calls now at a level marginally above those in the baseline period (670). Dover has seen similar changes in its call levels although the amount of change has been lesser, calls peaked between 1995-1998 and have now fallen back to a level very close to the baseline (452)."

Table 21 (page 65) also shows that of the qualifying period, although Dover had just one call that was not attended in 10 minutes, Folkestone had 13. Clearly, if it is not possible (due to the size of the Fire Ground) to attend all incidents in the required time at this time, reducing the number of whole-time stations will exacerbate the problem.

Other Inaccuracies

There are a number of other inaccuracies and omissions from the report. There is no mention of the proposed sea front development in Folkestone - expected to be one of the largest in the country - or mention of Lydd airport expansion which is being discussed at this time. Point 101 (page 16) of the report, released in the last few weeks, refers to the PFI development of the Sports Centres which was withdrawn almost a year ago:

"As part of a Private Finance Initiative (PFI), new flagship sports centres in Cheriton and Hythe are being built to provide modern dry and wet facilities, meeting the district's core sports provision needs."

Related Links

• IRMP Technical Appendices - Emergency Firecover Provision Folkestone
• Kent Fire Authority Survey
• Kent Fire Authority Survey (Archive Copy taken 14 January 2008)