NEW TORY FIRE HEAD MUST DO BETTER

Published on Sun 20th May 2007

Gloucestershire County Council's Liberal Democrats are hoping the new Tory cabinet member for fire will do a lot better after the current post holder resigned last week.

The Tory cabinet on Gloucestershire County Council now has a vacancy following the resignation of the cabinet member for fire. Tory Shaun Parsons resigned the post after it was discovered that as Governor of Sandford School he had prior knowledge of teachers using funds for a trip to Cheltenham's Gold Cup.

Liberal Democrat group leader, Cllr Jeremy Hilton, was cabinet member for fire during the previous administration. Cllr Hilton said:

"The fire service & rescue has really suffered in the first two years of this Tory administration due to three key failures. This administration has failed to defend our TriService fire control which is now going to be closed down and moved to a regional control in Somerset. They keeled over to government pressure as soon as they took office. The Tories have this year slashed £230,000 from the fire service budget and deleted 23 fire-fighter posts. They have not invested in Emergency Planning as they had promised in their 2005 manifesto, leaving Gloucestershire less prepared to deal with emergencies than it could be."

He added:

"The only real gain to the fire service over the last two years is the agreement to build four new fire stations for Cheltenham and Gloucester, but this just implements a Liberal Democrat initiative from the last administration."

Cllr Bill Crowther, Liberal Democrat spokesman for community safety, said:

"Our fire service does an excellent job surviving on a slim budget, but enough is enough. We need strong political leadership for our fire service. The new Tory cabinet member must be robust in defending the service from more cuts. I hope that he or she will stand up to the hawks in the Tory cabinet."