Agenda item

The Chair of the Mid and West Wales Fire Authority, Councillor Gwynfor Thomas, Chief Fire officer Roger Thomas and the s.151 officer Sarah Mansbridge were welcomed to Council.

A presentation was received on the current position, corporate plan and financial challenges of the service including background, scene setting and emerging issues.

Members were pleased to see the priority of culture change and heard about the different training that is offered across the service, aligned to the VAWWDAR network.

Members queried the ‘on call’ model which was labelled as ‘unsustainable’ and other alternatives to the model were discussed such as a new banding model and the plans in place to address the issues.

The ongoing level of manning at Port Talbot was queried in light of the TATA Steel position.  It was confirmed that Port Talbot has a 24 hour crewed station and a retained element when available predicated on the Community Risk Management Plan, and not only the TATA Steel presence and there were no plans to change this.

A discussion was had around the concept of moving to a ‘precept’ for the Fire and Rescue Service funding model.

The challenges of recruitment at retained fire stations was stated and an assurance was given that at present there are no plans to close any existing Fire Stations within the NPT area.

The Employers National Insurance contribution was questioned. It is expected that this will come fully funded to the Fire and Rescue Service through the Local Authority.

Officers from the Fire and Rescue service were thanked for their presentation and their ongoing work in partnership with the Council.