South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) have announced the details of the six public meetings which form part of their public consultation on proposed changes to service delivery.

They are:

• Monday 5^th December, 6pm, Edlington Victoria Primary School, Victoria Road, Edlington, Doncaster, DN12 1BN
• Wednesday 7^th December, 7pm, Royston Civic Hall, Station Road, Royston, S71 4EQ

• Tuesday 22^nd November, 7pm, Church on the Corner, 1-5 Buchanan Road, Sheffield, S5 8AP (Elm Lane area)
• Tuesday 29^th November, 7pm, St Catherine’s Church, 300 Hastilar Road South, Sheffield S13 8EJ (Darnall/Mansfield Road area)
• Wednesday 30^th November, 7pm, Mosborough Methodist Church, Chapel Street, Sheffield S20 5BT
• Wednesday 14^th December, 7pm, Sheffield Transport Club, Meadowhead, Sheffield S8 7RH

The governing Authority has started a 14-week public consultation on proposals to address a Government funding cut which is expected to reach £10m by 2015. Members and officers stress they do not want to make changes but have no alternative due to the extent of the cuts. They have already committed to cutting management and administration costs by 25%.

Feedback through the consultation period is welcome, and any alternative proposals will need to make at least the same level of savings due to the likely budget cut. The proposals currently out to consultation, together with other internal staffing changes, will save around £4m per year following a one-off investment of £3.65m, including two new fire stations. The proposals are:

·         A new full-time fire station near to the Sheffield Parkway, to replace Darnall and Mansfield Road fire stations (Sheffield)

·         A new full-time fire station at Birley, to improve cover in south-east Sheffield, and enable the closure of the part-time fire station at Mosborough

·         Removal of the retained duty system crews at Edlington (Doncaster) and Royston (Barnsley). Royston fire station would close

·         Removal of three countywide ‘roving pump’ fire engines that were used to support firefighter training but are no longer needed

·         Changing the firefighter crewing system at up to six existing stations, starting with Lowedges, with no effect on emergency response times. The “Close Proximity Crewing” model would save £400,000 per station, per year. If it is not possible to introduce Close Proximity Crewing, the alternative “Day Crewing” model would produce similar savings but with a negative impact on night time response times

The public consultation document, and related business cases, can be viewed on the Service’s website, www.syfire.gov.uk.

The consultation ends on Monday 6^th February 2012.