But it’s reassuring to see that you can’t bamboozle the Great British Public when something is patently not in its interests.
I refer to the consultation on whether our fire service should merge with Dorset’s.
Not so long ago our political leaders at Trowbridge ousted fellow-Conservative Graham Payne as Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority chairman because he favoured the merger.
They then had the public consultation document redrafted to try to ensure that the options on offer gave them a bigger stake in running the service.
But by an overwhelming majority, folk didn’t fall for it.
Countywide, 77 per cent backed the merger plan, which would save £4million a year and save jobs.
In Salisbury, not a single person said they would prefer to keep a Wiltshire-only service once they learned that it would mean slashing the numbers not only of firefighters, but of appliances and stations.
The degree of consensus was “remarkable”, according to a report by Opinion Research Services.
But was it really? What’s a fire service for if it’s not for giving us all the best possible chance to avoid being burned to death or choked by toxic smoke?
The dominant theme of the findings, says ORS, was that “local authorities are not the most suitable partners for emergency services because there is little synergy between their respective operations, and local government has problems of its own to deal with.”
You’d certainly have thought that last bit was true, wouldn’t you?
Some respondents worried that councils are “too political”, others that fire chiefs would find themselves competing for funding against social services or education. All of them legitimate points.
The “vast majority” of MPs in the area also said they want frontline services protected first and foremost, according to the report.
The government, meanwhile, is so convinced by the business case for the two counties teaming up that it has offered £5.54million to help make it happen.
Some of that, inevitably, is for IT harmonisation. But a big chunk is for a new SafeWise centre delivering safety education in the Salisbury area, to be combined with a ‘strategic hub’ – a meeting place for a joint fire authority and its staff.
As our MP John Glen told me: “For the people of Salisbury and south Wiltshire that can’t be anything but good news, especially with a new fire authority HQ in our patch.”
All around us are voices united in agreement - Swindon Borough Council, Dorset County Council’s cabinet, Bournemouth Borough Council …. and now Dorset Fire Authority, unanimously.
So what are we waiting for? The verdict of our own fire authority, now chaired by Winterslow’s councillor Chris Devine. It meets in Devizes on Tuesday ………
I refer to the consultation on whether our fire service should merge with Dorset’s.
Not so long ago our political leaders at Trowbridge ousted fellow-Conservative Graham Payne as Wiltshire and Swindon Fire Authority chairman because he favoured the merger.
They then had the public consultation document redrafted to try to ensure that the options on offer gave them a bigger stake in running the service.
But by an overwhelming majority, folk didn’t fall for it.
Countywide, 77 per cent backed the merger plan, which would save £4million a year and save jobs.
In Salisbury, not a single person said they would prefer to keep a Wiltshire-only service once they learned that it would mean slashing the numbers not only of firefighters, but of appliances and stations.
The degree of consensus was “remarkable”, according to a report by Opinion Research Services.
But was it really? What’s a fire service for if it’s not for giving us all the best possible chance to avoid being burned to death or choked by toxic smoke?
The dominant theme of the findings, says ORS, was that “local authorities are not the most suitable partners for emergency services because there is little synergy between their respective operations, and local government has problems of its own to deal with.”
You’d certainly have thought that last bit was true, wouldn’t you?
Some respondents worried that councils are “too political”, others that fire chiefs would find themselves competing for funding against social services or education. All of them legitimate points.
The “vast majority” of MPs in the area also said they want frontline services protected first and foremost, according to the report.
The government, meanwhile, is so convinced by the business case for the two counties teaming up that it has offered £5.54million to help make it happen.
Some of that, inevitably, is for IT harmonisation. But a big chunk is for a new SafeWise centre delivering safety education in the Salisbury area, to be combined with a ‘strategic hub’ – a meeting place for a joint fire authority and its staff.
As our MP John Glen told me: “For the people of Salisbury and south Wiltshire that can’t be anything but good news, especially with a new fire authority HQ in our patch.”
All around us are voices united in agreement - Swindon Borough Council, Dorset County Council’s cabinet, Bournemouth Borough Council …. and now Dorset Fire Authority, unanimously.
So what are we waiting for? The verdict of our own fire authority, now chaired by Winterslow’s councillor Chris Devine. It meets in Devizes on Tuesday ………
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