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Petition Number: P-06-1363 Petition title: Save our Fire and Rescue Service Text of petition: North Wales Fire and Rescue along with the Fire Authority plan to downgrade Rhyl and Deeside Stations from 24hr Stations to Day staffed Stations leaving the Stations empty at night. Currently there are 3 Wholetime Stations in North Wales, Wrexham, Deeside and Rhyl. They are staffed 24/7. Under the current proposals Rhyl and Deeside would be downgraded to day staffed Stations, relying on on call personnel responding from home at night. The predicted delay could be as much as 8-10 minutes. In a fire every second counts and this will undoubtedly cause injuries and even deaths.
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In Wales, the responsibility for fire and rescue services sits with the Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn MS. The Welsh Government is responsible for overseeing the operation and management of the fire and rescue services. It sets policy and strategy related to fire and rescue services, allocates funding, and ensures services are adequately equipped and prepared to respond to emergencies, including fires, road traffic accidents and other incidents.
The day-to-day management of fire and rescue services rests with the Fire and Rescue Authority, which operates under the direction and policies set by the Welsh Government. There are currently three Welsh Fire and Rescue Services in Wales, which are responsible for delivering fire and rescue services in their respective regions:
§ Mid and West Wales Fire and Rescue Authority
§ North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority
§ South Wales Fire and Rescue Authority
Under section 21 of the Fire and Rescue Services Act 2004, the Welsh Ministers must prepare and keep under review a Fire and Rescue National Framework. The Framework must set out priorities and objectives for fire and rescue authorities. The current framework is the Fire and Rescue National Framework for Wales 2016.
Fire and rescue authorities must have regard to the National Framework in carrying out their functions (section 21(7) of the 2004 Act) and the Auditor General for Wales may carry out an inspection of an authority’s compliance with this requirement (see the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2009, section 24).
North Wales Fire and Rescue Authority launched its public consultation on the provision of future emergency cover services in North Wales on 21 July 2023. It closed on 22 September 2023. A decision hasn’t yet been taken on this, three different options have been put forward.
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