Employers were last night urged to release more staff for duty as retained firefighters to prevent a "breakdown" of emergency cover in the countryside.

Two Norfolk MPs warned the government that it was common to have 10 of the county's fire engines unavailable at one time because of crewing and other problems, and that providing sufficient cover in rural parts of the county was becoming a great challenge.

Richard Bacon, MP for South Norfolk, and his counterpart in South West Norfolk, Christopher Fraser, raised the issue in the Commons - urging ministers and businesses to do more to ensure the emergency service has enough retained firefighters available during the daytime.

Mr Fraser said 35 of the 41 fire stations in Norfolk were crewed entirely by retained firefighters, and in all rural areas of the county the service relied on them.

With more people in 9-to-5 jobs and fewer employed on the land, part of the problem was employers were now less inclined to give staff time to work as retained firefighters.

Mr Bacon told communities minister Parmjit Dhanda that "the system is beginning to break down".

Mr Dhanda acknowledged that the retained duty system had been affected by long-standing recruitment and retention difficulties in many parts of the country.

The government was continuing to work with the fire and rescue service to tackle the challenges, he said, and in the next phase would be funding "information materials" to encourage employers to release staff.

As part of this, researchers are running a focus group with employers in the area around Hingham fire station in Norfolk.

Last night, Richard Elliott, chief fire officer for Norfolk, told the EDP that the concerns raised by the MPs were an issue but that these were being addressed.

"We can no longer take the provision of fire and rescue services in rural communities for granted without realistic investment in community safety and firefighter safety," he said, adding that an ongoing review into service delivery in rural areas was of importance".

"A comprehensive report on the issue of retained firefighters and their working arrangements went before the fire and community protection review panel at County Hall in July last year.

"Members debated the matter and agreed a three-year action plan focusing on how we might best improve daytime availability."

An update on the progress of the plan will be given at the panel's next meeting on March 18. Mr Elliott pointed out that the service had been judged good and well-performing by the independent Audit Commission.

David Worsley, deputy chief fire officer, added: "We very much appreciate the efforts and commitment of the employers of our retained firefighters in Norfolk and we thank them for their continued support."

Mr Fraser also voiced concern about plans to close the Hethersett fire service centre and move control to Cambridgeshire.

"The cutting-edge technology used at Hethersett is the envy of firefighters across the country. It seems crazy that the government wants to close the centre down and move control to Cambridgeshire. I am extremely concerned that the high level of delivery that we currently get in Norfolk could be jeopardised," he said.

After the debate, he complained that Mr Dhanda had failed to convince him that the proposed move would result in a better service for Norfolk.

Source: EDP

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