REPRESENTATIVES of the Fire Service, have told Chris Vince, Essex Labour & Co-operative Party candidate, that large areas of the county are effectively being left with no fire cover, and the Harlow Councillor has warned that he ‘fears that Tory cuts will have serious consequences’.
‘Essex residents are being left at the mercy of nothing more than luck, due to Tory cuts to the fire service. Between 2010 and 2019 250 whole time firefighters have been cut, along with 10 whole time appliances, and ten control staff. Now Roger Hirst, the Tory PFCC has decided to downgrade South Woodham Ferrer to a retained service.
Harlow has already lost its aerial ladder platform, Canvey Island has no full-time fire cover, whilst more and more often, fire crews are expected to be on stand by to cover just about anywhere across Essex. Days at a time, swathes of our county are without full-time fire cover, putting lives at risk.’
‘Tory cuts have consequences, and the consequences of these cuts is that residents are being left to hope they don’t suffer a major fire. It’s utterly shameless the atrocious public service that the Tories are providing, which is why I’m committed to keeping South Woodham Ferrers, as a full time, properly funded, fire crew.
‘We’ve already seen the result of Tory cuts to police numbers, with a large rise in violent crime and a backlog in our courts, and now this. The Tory Government and their local apologists in Essex, are not only letting down those on the front line, but they’re letting down communities across the County.’
Essex deserves better. Our communities deserve better. Residents deserve better. All these issues and more are in the ballot on May 6th. People can vote to support those on the front line, who put their lives on the line to keep us safe, by voting Labour & Co-operative, or face more cuts under the Tories.’
