What are the local FBU and UNISON are doing?

A small local team of union officials from the Fire Brigades Union and UNISON are coordinating the campaign.

The team are working hard behind the scenes, with the support of local and national officials within the respective unions.

FBU Fire Options Appraisal Report for the Isle of Wight Fire & Rescue Service

2007/02/22: In response to the previously published Options Appraisal Report (more details on the Options Appraisal Report here) the Fire Brigades Union has published a report into the options appraisal for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service,. The report is made available as a hard copy report or downloadable document.

The report includes an Institute of Public Finance report commissioned by the FBU into the proposals (the IPF report is in the appendix).

A hardcopy of the FBU Options Appraisal report has been distributed to:

All Isle of Wight County Councillors

All Isle of Wight Parish Councils

All Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service Staff (Firefighters and Support Staff)

All Regions of the Fire Brigades Union, including all national officials.

Local UNISON Officials

All local media: Island Pulse, Isle of Wight County Press, Solent TV and Isle of Wight Radio.

You can download the report in the section below or request a hard copy of the report by writing to:

FBU Fire Options Appraisal Report
FBU - Isle of Wight Branch
c/o Fire Station
South Street
NEWPORT
Isle of Wight
PO30 1JQ

Please ensure you provide your name and address, including postcode. Thank you.

Downloadable FBU Fire Options Appraisal Report for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service

The FBU Fire Options Appraisal Report for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service is available as a downloadable document (PDF) here (635KB).

You will need Adobe Reader to view the press release documents in this section. Adobe Reader usually installed on most computers, but if not on your computer it is available as a free download from Adobe:

Click here to download Adobe Reader.

Flyer distribution

The local FBU are encouraging all within the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service (whether Firefighters, Fire Control Operators or Support staff) to distribute flyers to publicise what is happening.

To date many Island residents do not seem to know what is happening and are surprised that the suggestion of a merger is being proposed.

The aim of the campaign is to provide information to the public, which can be readily understood and allow them to express their opinions, whether by letter and/or attending one of the public consultation meetings.

Protest Letters

Firefighters, Fire Control Operators and Support staff are now publicising the proposals with the flyer distribution (as detailed above), but at the same time encouraging the public to complete a proforma letter opjecting to the proposal for merger.

As at lateNovember hundreds of letters have been sent to the Chief Executive of the Isle of Wight Council.

The action and campaign will continue and gain memomentum throughout the consultation period.

Further details on the campaign letters are available here.

Additionally, fire and rescue service staff are encouraging the public to:

Write to the local Parish Councillors

Write to the Isle of Wight MP: Andrew Turner

Send a letter to the Isle of Wight County Press

More details on how to send these letters can be found here.

Encouraging the public to attend the Public Meetings

All staff working for the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service are encouraging the public to attend the public meetings being held around the Island during November, December 2006 and January 2007.

Further details on the public meetings are available here.

Meetings with Council Officials and Local Politcians

Local Fire Brigades Union and UNISON officials are meeting with various local council officials and politicians,

These include:

Joe Duckworth, Chief Executive, Isle of Wight Council

Councillor Andrew Sutton, Leader of the Council

Councillor Barry Abraham, Porfolio Holder for Safer Communities