Moves by Labour councillors to ensure no “cuts” are made to the county’s fire and rescue service have failed.

At a meeting of the county council last Tuesday, Labour councillor Joshua Bennett Lovell tabled a motion asking councillors to agree that “there should be no more cuts to Herts Fire Service”.

His motion called for a rejection of the “cuts” proposed in the Iintegrated Risk Managment Plan (IRMP) consultation, which includes plans to replace some traditional fire engines with alternative rapid response and intermediate response vehicles.

And it called for “cuts” and “efficiencies” that had already been made to be reversed.

It highlighted the ‘action plan’ drawn up to address the ‘areas of improvement’ identified in HM Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services inspection report.

And it suggested a rejection of any “cuts” for the service to achieve a ‘good’ rating or better in all categories.

Although there was not time to debate the motion at the meeting, there was a vote. The motion was not agreed.

Following the meeting, executive member for community safety and waste management Cllr Terry Hone said an action plan to address areas of improvement in the inspection report had been agreed.

He said progress would be monitored by the community safety and waste management cabinet panel.

And he said that the chief fire officer had not requested any further funding to support these plans.

Indeed he said spending on the county’s fire and rescue had increased over recent years.

Cllr Hone pointed to future plans in the IRMP to redesign the service “to meet the changing demands of Hertfordshire”.

And he said this would “ensure that the most efficient, cost-effective service is provided for people who live, work and visit Hertfordshire”.

He said these plans would include investment in training and in the redevelopment of the Longfield Training Centre into a Joint Emergency Service Interoperability Programme (JESIP) Academy.