Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

No declarations were made.

A maximum of 15 minutes will be allocated to public questions submitted in writing to Democratic Services (democratic.services@trafford.gov.uk) by 4 p.m. on the working day prior to the meeting. Questions must be relevant to items appearing on the agenda and will be submitted in the order in which they were received.

No questions were received.

To consider the attached report and a presentation from GMFRS.

The Chair introduced the meeting and the structure of the meeting with the Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS) providing a presentation then questions and answers then FBU questions and answers and the Committee to discuss how they would then respond to the consultation. 

The Chief Fire Officer delivered the presentation with the Assistant Chief Fire Officer and the Committee were informed that the fire cover review was done every four years to ensure resources were used in most efficient ways. The review included all fire stations covered by GMFRS.  The Committee were asked to note the review was not to deliver a reduction or increase but rather a re-allocation of existing funding. Explained that looked at the service and how the changes would impact response times across the areas. GMFRS could have decided to propose a no change review, but The Chief Fire Officer was of the opinion that the changes proposed offered a better service to the people of Greater Manchester as a whole. As the funding would increase prevention services, introduce two new enhanced rescue stations, and increase the fleet by two fire vehicles.

Members were shown the expected changes in the average response times across Trafford and Sale and The Chief Fire Officer noted that the times were averages and recognised the issues faced by residents in Partington.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer then gave a detailed look into the recommendations that would directly impact Trafford. Explained how the day shift pattern would work with the service being the same from 08:00 – 18:00 and a night on call service from 18:00 – 08:00. The Committee were informed of how the rota system worked and The Assistant Chief Fire Officer assured Members that it was a service pattern which had worked well in other areas of the region. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer informed the committee that the new system greatly reduced the number of staff required from 28 to 13. The Assistant Chief Fire Officer explained why Sale station was chosen which included the low number of night-time incidents (3^rd Lowest in GM), the low number of Night-Time Life Risk incidents (3^rd Lowest in GM), and the low number of Serious life risk incidents (4^th Lowest I GM). The Committee were informed that in addition to low level of risk also Sale Fire Station also had a strong level of support from other fire stations within a 10-minute response area.

The Assistant Chief Fire Officer then went through the benefits of the proposals for staff which included being family friendly, improved life/work balance, and an attractive renumeration package. The Committee were then asked to look at the wider benefits of the proposed changes to make the service more robust across the conurbation which included two additional fire trucks in Manchester Central and Moss Side. The resources the proposals would add to the service were not fixed but worked as mobile elements of the rescue system and two new vehicles would add  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.