Fire Brigade unable to Recruit Retained Fire Fighters as Windsor Goes Part-Time

Just as the Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Authority is planning to move Windsor's Fire Station on to a retained only basis at nights, evidence is appearing in the local press across Berkshire that the Fire Brigade is having difficulty in recruiting retained fire-fighters.

The most recent article referring to the Cookham Station appeared in the Maidenhead Advertiser on the 19th February under the headline "Part-timers shortage at fire station Call goes out to double retained list".

The station in Berries Road, currently has seven retained firefighters, but should have double that, with about 14 or 15.

Commenting on the story Lib Dem Parliamentary Spokesman Julian Tisi said:

"The role played by retained Fire-Fighters is an essential one. I and Lib Dem colleagues nationally are currently involved in a battle to safeguard the retained service from plans to extend the working time directive to include their on-call hours.

"Given the difficulty of recruiting retained personnel indicated by press reports across Berkshire, especially the eastern end of the county, one has to query the wisdom of the Fire Authority's move to make Windsor a retained crew at night."

Retained or part-time fire-fighters need to live within three minutes of the fire station and must be able to arrange night and morning cover to fit in with other commitments. Stories in the local press covering difficulties in recruiting retained fire-fighters in East Berkshire go back at least as far as September 2004, hardly surprising as few people in the London Commuter belt work within 3 minutes of home.