MORE than 200 firefighters could lose their jobs despite revised budget cut proposals – but plans to change the crew levels at Grayshott Fire Station remain unchanged

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service announced plans to save £5million by 2020 and cut more than 300 posts in a bid to tackle its £12million deficit last year.

But after a public consultation Chief Fire Officer Dave Curry announced on Monday final proposals on changes to frontline services which will see cuts scaled down to £4.1million.

Grayshott’s team of 12 retained firefighters will be cut to eight on call with a smaller appliance, which the authority estimates could improve average response times and save around £28,000 a year. The station will have one on call full time equivalent post to crew a “co-responder” vehicle shared with Liphook.

Liphook will see its crew of retained firefighters cut from 12 to eight, saving £24,000. Similar proposals at Bordon would see a crew of 15 on-call reduced to 13 with a smaller vehicle, saving £10,000 and Petersfield, serving a population of 25,270, would see a team of 20 reduce to 14, losing one of its two larger fire engines, saving £38,000.

Overall the number of full-sized fire engines in Hampshire will still be reduced from 76 to 25, with smaller “intermediate and first response” vehicles replacing them.

The original plans – reported in The Herald in the autumn – would have seen 86 full-time firefighters and 225 retained staff, who are part-time firefighters responding to emergency calls – lose their jobs.

But now only 60 full-time and 152 retained posts could be lost. Mr Curry said: “We’re in a financial position where we can actually make adjustments to our original proposals.”

Investing in new equipment will require less maintenance and fewer staff. The engines will be replaced by 50 “intermediate and first response” vehicles, which can be manned by just two crew.

Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service will be left with 507 retained firefighters and 516 full-time staff.

No stations will close and all will have some level of 24 hour-a-day, seven day-a-week cover. Plans to cut full-time cover at six stations were changed after the public consultation.

The final proposals will go to the Hampshire Fire and Rescue Authority meeting on Wednesday, February 17,

Chief Officer Curry added: “We received a huge amount of feedback from both our staff and the public during our consultation period. We have listened and made meaningful changes to the proposals that will go to the fire authority next week. At the heart of the proposals remains our commitment to keeping the residents of Hampshire and our firefighters safe.

“We are taking advantage of cutting-edge technology to adapt our vehicles and techniques, ensuring our firefighters are fully equipped to deliver the best possible service to our communities.

“Our county and the risks within it are changing.

“If these proposals are agreed by the authority, we will embark on three years of implementation as we create smarter, more efficient service for the residents of Hampshire.”