The transition to a day crewing model for Exmouth fire station has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Discussions about the change – which also applies to Paignton and Barnstaple fire stations – are still on hold.

In January 2020, the Devon and Somerset Fire Authority agreed to defer the decision over changing working arrangements at the three fire stations, to allow further negotiations with unions to take place.

[H2]What are the proposed changes?[.H]

Barnstaple, Exmouth and Paignton fire stations currently have whole time crew 24/7.

It was proposed that the stations would still operate around the clock, but at night, they would be crewed by on-call firefighters.

But Gavin Ellis, Director of Service Improvement, has told Devon County Council's Community Safety and Corporate Planning Committee that discussions remain on hold as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown restrictions, which have meant face-to-face discussions with branch members have not been able to happen.

Addressing the meeting on Friday, December 11, he said: "This decision was dependent on agreement with the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to the introduction of a revised 24/7 crewing model, including roving vehicles and formal negotiations on this commenced with the Fire Brigades Union in January 2020.

"Good progress was made at that time, with the FBU and local representatives about to commence a series of station visits to recommend the service proposal of changes to the start and finish times of the existing shift system and the introduction of a day duty system that complemented both the day hours of the shift system and the day hours of the Pay for Availability (P4A) system.

"Unfortunately, the first lockdown imposed restrictions which prevented those visits taking place in time for conclusion by the end of the 2019/20 financial year.

"The service has encouraged the FBU to continue engagement with its members when the lockdown restrictions lifted and by remote visits.

"The FBU has, however, been reluctant to progress any matters relating to terms and conditions of service whilst their members are working under the provisions of the tripartite agreement being used to support communities beyond the recognised duties of the firefighter role map."

Mr Ellis added: "In the meantime and to continue to make progress, the service has recruited 34 firefighters on new contracts, which will provide the flexibility that the service requires from the new ways of working.

"These staff were previously on-call firefighters who transitioned to the whole-time duty system on different contracts to those used for existing staff. In addition, an external recruitment process will be undertaken in 2021 with the firefighters so recruited being deployed on the new contracts."

What's the Pay for Availability system?

Explaining the new Pay for Availability system, he added that at present, all firefighters on call receive an alert if and when there is a 'shout' at their station, but that can mean far more firefighters turn up than are needed.

Instead, there will be a roster with availability and then only those on the roster will be alerted, which he said would stop people being disturbed unnecessarily, and stop people turning up at a fire station expecting to be involved in a response and finding the engine has already gone.

Explaining the changes that have taken place since they were agreed back in January, Mr Ellis confirmed that the operational use of Budleigh Salterton fire station ceased at the beginning of April 2020 and all firefighters who wished to remain with the service have transferred to Exmouth fire station.

The relocation of Topsham fire station to Service Headquarters was completed on December 8 and work has progressed to recruit and establish a new on-call section at Middlemoor fire station.

The newly-established crew have been familiarising themselves with the second fire engine from Topsham and training on it and the vehicle was due to be 'on the run' on December 12, when the current Topsham Fire Station would be closed, Mr Ellis added.

The replacement of the existing third fire engines with a Light 4×4 Pump(L4P) at Taunton and Torquay stations has taken place, while the L4P's due for Bridgwater and Yeovil will be complete by January 2021.

The removal of the second fire engines from Martock and Totnes was completed at the end of March 2020, and the removal of the second fire engines at Lynton and Crediton and replacement with L4Ps was completed in October 2020, the meeting heard.

In terms of the introduction of variable fire engine availability dependent on risk, Mr Ellis said that the facilitation of this element for the eleven identified stations has been linked to the introduction of Pay for Availability (P4A) in the first instance, with two stations transitioning in October 2020 and another scheduled for January 2021.

The remaining eight stations will transition at the same time as moving to P4A should they opt to take this system, and stations that do not wish to take the P4A offer will be transitioned to risk dependent availability status later in 2021, he added.

He said that while the Fire and Rescue Services Association had signed a local collective agreement, the FBU wished to refer the matter to a national negotiation level to be determined by national representatives of the FBU and the employers, and the service's revised offer to the FBU was rejected by the FBU in October 2020.

Mr Ellis said: "Having consulted with on-call staff, it appears that 44 fire stations (55%) are keen to move to the Service P4A proposal. A further 24 fire stations (30%) have asked for more information but may be interested in voluntarily moving to the new on call proposal.

"Only 11 fire stations (15%) have said that they do not wish to progress the new model but it should be noted that some of these stations are currently on a legacy payment model which is being phased out. As such, this may change in the future if funds remain available for the investment.

"As part of planning for the 2021-22 budget, it appears that the full amount allocated for P4A will now not be required as, without a collective agreement, a whole service approach is not possible. Crewing levels and performance on those stations where P4A has not been agreed will continue to be scrutinised."