CHIEF Fire Officer for MAWWFS Chris Davies has stated that any further budget cuts could result in possible closures of fire stations in Wales.
Davies, who was giving a presentation to Carmarthenshire County Council, claims that the fire service have made all the efficiencies possible and that they are in ‘the rounds of cuts and service delivery.’
The fire service has received a big response from the public through a number of surveys. The public feedback shows that people are willing to pay more in order to maintain the high level the service currently provides.
Feedback also indicates that the service should consider collaborating with other organisations.
Davies said: “We are all under extreme budget pressure and the role of the fire authority is to determine a safe budget for the effective running of fire service.
“Any cuts on the budget will have an impact on service delivery. We all need to be quite aware of the impact and changes that will occur if we don’t get a sustainable budget.”
Figures show that there has been no loss in service delivery despite a 20% budget cut with Davies claiming that the speed, wait and response is the same of that 20 years ago.
In Carmarthenshire the performances of the fire service were said to be ‘positive’.
It was said that the fire station in Llanelli was performing ‘extremely highly’ and Chris Davies stated that he was ‘more than happy’ with the staff and crew and how the station is performing.
