Fire chief: "No U-turn" on axing of second Rotherham night-time fire engine

Mr Courtney told council scrutiny committee members at Rotherham Town Hall on Wednesday that £25 million in reserves could not fund more crews, as most of it was allocated for future spending on buildings and equipment.

South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s chief fire officer added that spending was limited by £32 million of debt.

Some of this stretched back to the 1980s and costs £3 million a year in repayments — enough to pay 80 extra firefighters, he said.

Rotherham station lost its second night crew last March after cuts saw £12 million slashed from SYFR’s budget over seven years.

From a budget of £60 million in 2011, SYFR saw cuts of £12 million over seven years — a 27 per cent loss, adjusted for inflation.

Under financial pressure, it aimed to keep one-crew stations open, at the cost of some second crews.

Mr Courtney called SYFR “quite lean in resources” and “getting a rough deal” compared with other metropolitan services.

“It should come as no surprise that we have had to reduce the number of people we employ really quite significantly,” he added.

“We’re not comfortable recruiting new firefighters only to find we can’t afford them.”

The fire chief told councillors reserves were needed for new buildings and equipment.

Spending plans include £15 million on a new Barnsley fire station, plus new personal kit for 2019.

Barnsley station needs replacing at a cost of around £15 million, as it is crumbling and expensive to heat, he said.

Terrorism has also required the purchase of protective equipment for firefighters, Mr Courtney added.

“So of £25 million, about £18 million will be capital investment,” he said.

The remainder, about £6 million, will be set aside for contingency.

He added: “As soon as you start paying wages out of your reserves, they disappear quickly.

“We don’t know the financial situation will be post-2020, so it would be irresponsible to spend all of our reserves.”

SYFR presented Westminster with an efficiency plan in an effort to minimise funding cuts, Mr Courtney explained.

This involved new rotas at four stations, with variable crewing rather than full-time.

“We’re much busier during the day because of training, inspections and community safety work — none of which we do at night,” said the chief.

“At night, Rotherham is no worse off than 14 other stations which only have one pump.”

The chief added that community work like safety inspections, installing smoke alarms and education had greatly reduced fires and fire deaths.

Cllr Jeanette Mallinder asked Mr Courtney whether he would make the same decision to cut Rotherham’s second night crew now.

He replied: “Our budget situation is the same now, though it’s improved slightly because of the efficiency plan.

“We will keep re-evaluating the situation and, if we think at any time there is a chance to reverse the decision, we will.

“But I have to say it may be that adding a second pump elsewhere is a better option.”

Cllr Victoria Cusworth asked: “How can you explain to taxpayers of Rotherham that Sheffield and Doncaster have been prioritised over them?

“People want to know that their taxes aren’t going outside the borough entirely.”

Mr Courtney replied that those cities were spared second pump cuts because of their high-rise buildings.

Cllr David Sheppard asked him to clarify what night cover was in place at Rotherham station.

If Rotherham’s sole engine is busy, neighbouring stations respond to town centre calls, the chief explained.

If Rotherham and nearby stations are busy, staff are scrambled Birley station within within 15 minutes.

Councillors spent around half an hour considering Mr Courtney’s answers, before returning to deliver their recommendations.

They suggested that the budget-setting South Yorkshire Fire Authority “considers reinstatement of the second night-time pump at Rotherham, to ensure a quality and consistency of cover with Sheffield and Doncaster”.