What would a merger mean for the Island?

There would be drastic changes to the service delivered to Isle of Wight residents if the merger were to go ahead.

Fire and Rescue Service Controlled by Hampshire Fire Authority

The Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service would be managed and controlled by the Hampshire Fire Authority (or whatever the name would eventually be); the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service would cease to exist in it's current form and name.

This would mean, as with the Hampshire Police Authority, the Island would be represented by one (as in the case of Hampshire Police Authority) or maybe two members on the Authority.

Any decision on the future of stations (reduction or closure) would be made by this authority, with little influence from the Isle of Wight.

As a result Isle of Wight residents would have little or no say (as with Hampshire Police Authority) in the decisions that are made that affect the delivery of this emergency service to Isle of Wight residents and the millions of visitors every year.

Closure of Fire Stations?

The closure of fire stations is highly likely considering that the main emphasis of this whole project appears to be costs. Whilst there may even be the closure of fire stations under the status quo option, Isle of Wight residents would at least have a say in any decision to close a fire station.

With a merged fire service the decision would fall to the combined fire authority where the Island would be poorly represented and could easily be out voted.

It is quite clear that there are going to have to be some difficult decisions over the coming years as the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service continues to modernise, but the control and decision making on these issues should remain on the island. Some of these decisions may involve station closures or a reduction in the number of appliances on the island.

However, crucially under the status quo option Island residents would have a strong say in how any future reforms were made.

The delivery and quality of service delivered would not be under the control of Island residents or their elected officials.

Loss of assets

Assets currently owned by the Isle of Wight Council, would almost certainly be transferred to the new combined fire authority were a merger to go ahead.

A future combined fire authority would then be able to close any stations, sell the land or remove fire applianes as they saw fit, without any recompence or renumeration to the Isle of Wight Council or Island residents.

Isle of Wight residents would effectively be powerless to prevent such moves. Likewise local politicians (local councillors and parish councillors) would have no power to prevent such changes.

Precept - a combined Hampshire Fire Authority

There would be a precept for Island Council tax payers in order to pay for a combined fire service.

However, no accurate figures have been made available (they are not known); no projections seem to have been made nor are available.

If you were to compare the likely hood of a precept similar to Hampshire Police Authority, rises in the precept on council tax payers could be high; in recent years there have been 11% and 23% rises per annum.

Efficiency Savings - a reduction in Council Tax?

There may be some efficiency savings made with a full merger (identified in the report as around £1.1m).

However, there are no assurances that this money will be recovered, that it would reduce the council tax burden for Island residents or that it would ever be realised at all.

It has emerged that any savings could take up to six years to be realised in any case.

It has been confirmed that any savings made would not result in a reduction in the council tax for Island residents, as the money would be diverted to other needs of the Island.

An example would be the £630,000 saved over the past two years by the current Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service Management Team, which has not resulted in a reduction in council tax bills.

Contrasting Budgets

There are emrging facts about the different budgets of the current two fire and rescue services.

Whilst the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service budget is increasing, the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service budget is decreasing.

The difference is 8.3% when compared (Hampshire increase by 3.3% - Isle of Wight reduction by 4-5%).

Island residents need to be aware that accurate and up-to-date figures are not being readily made available during the presentations by consultants which are being made at the public meetings around the island. Figures provided at the public meetings do not reflect the budget changes for current and future financial years.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service - budget increases

Figures show that the budget for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service is increasing year on year above inflation; by £6.057m for 2006/07 (gross expnditure).

As the figures from the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service show, the gross expenditure for 2006/07 was £71.7m.

The figures suggest that expenditure for 2006/07 has increased by £6,057m; to put this increase into perspective, it represents nearly the total budget for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service.

These figures should be viewed against savings of the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service of £630,000 over the past two years.

 

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service Budgets:

Budget for 2005/06: £60.265m

adjustment for changes in pensions -£2.387m

Equivalent budget for last year 2005/06 £57.878m

 

This year 2006/07:

Preventing incidents: £2.857m

Protecting life and property: £ 4.707m

Responding to emergencies: £61.906m

Management and support: £2.295m

Gross expenditure: £71.765m

Budget for 2006/07*: £59.560

*After deducting income, accounting adjustments and transfers from reserves.

Note: For the purposes of comparison, gross expenditure for 2005/06 was £65.708m

Source: Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service website

The expenditure for Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service has increased by £6.05m from 2005/06 to 2006/07.

Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service - budget decreases

Figures show that the budget for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is decreasing year on year; currently by 5-6% for 2006/07.

Savings of £630,000 have been made over the past couple of years.

If savings of a similar scale were to be reflected in Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service, Hampshire residents would potentially see a substantial reduction in their council tax bills, as it would mean a reduction for 2006/07 of around £3.5m, in one year alone.

Instead Hampshire residents are seeing an above inflation increase for 2006/07 for the fire and rescue service budget.

How much would the merger cost?

Figures for the cost of a merger of the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service with Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service are not available.

Indeed no detailed financial planning appears to have been completed.

As such any stated savings following a merger may never be realised and indeed the cost of the merger could wipe out any potential savings realised from such a merger.

The 'accurate' stated savings (in both the consultants report and presented by a consultant in the public meeting presentation) following a merger should be contrasted against little or no financial information or apparent financial planning for the cost of a merger or when any savings would actually be made or reaslised for Island residents.

The financial burden on Island residents could be even greater not less, as has been suggested.

Merger costs up to ten times original projections?

The scenario that could be faced by Island council tax payers is having to pay for costs as much as ten times (or more) any projected costs, once they are calculated and made available.

This is what is now having to be paid by Devon and Somerset residents, where are voluntary merger between their two Fire and Rescue Services has seen a ten fold increase in the original projected cost of such a merger.

A merger could mean an increased tax burden for Island residents and not a reduction.