At the end of last year, I visited Farringdon Community Fire Station and met with firefighters and the Chief Fire Officer, to discuss proposed changes to the Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service.

The proposals for change came as a result of pressure on our Fire Service to save millions of pounds as a result of government funding cuts. If the proposed changes went ahead, Farringdon would have seen one of their two fire engines being used as an ‘on-call’ engine only. I know that there were serious concerns about the potential for longer response times as a result.

I urged the public to have their say by responding to the consultation, which ended on 28 January. The Fire Authority have recently published their response to the consultation, announcing a decision to postpone plans that would have directly affected services at Farringdon. This decision comes as a result of ongoing negotiations with the Home Office for a fairer funding formula, which the Fire Authority hopes will be successful.

You can read the Fire Authorities full response here: https://www.twfire.gov.uk/…/tyne-and-wear-fire-authority-a…/