A public consultation is set to be launched on plans to create a Combined Fire Authority with Hampshire, Portsmouth and Southampton following a meeting of the Full Council last night (Wednesday).
Members of the Isle of Wight Council have agreed to push ahead with a 12 week consultation to get the public’s feedback on plans to effectively hand over control of the Isle of Wight Fire and Rescue Service from the sole hands of the Isle of Wight Council, to the Hampshire Fire Authority.
This news is just the latest step forward in handing over more and more control to Hampshire. A partnership agreement between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight services has already seen a number of resources being shared and fire control is now handled by Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service. A number of mainland officers have also been stationed here.
Councillor for Nettlestone and Seaview, Reg Barry, has expressed concerns that the combined authority is already a ‘done deal’, but that claim has been rejected by the Leader of the Council, Dave Stewart.
An exact date for the start of the consultation is yet to be decided, but is expected to be soon. A report will then go before the Isle of Wight Council at the tail end of 2018.
This decision is separate to the ongoing fire service review which will see the number of firefighters reduced from 58 to 50. A vote on that will take place in April.
