Fire authority to decide on major changes to on-call fire engine provision

Members of Buckinghamshire & Milton Keynes Fire Authority will meet next week to decide on proposals that could significantly reshape on-call firefighting provision across the county.

An Extraordinary Meeting of the authority will take place at 11am on Wednesday 18 March at the Oculus in the Buckinghamshire Council Gateway Offices in Aylesbury. Here, councillors will consider a single agenda item — the On-Call Improvement Programme Decision Report — following a 10-week public consultation on the future of on-call fire engines and stations.

What are the proposed changes?

If approved, the proposals would remove six on-call fire engines currently based at stations in Amersham, Beaconsfield, Great Missenden, High Wycombe, Stokenchurch and West Ashland (the second on-call engine at the station).

Two stations — Great Missenden and Stokenchurch — would also be closed and decommissioned after recording zero availability for several years. Decisions on the future use of the sites would be considered by the authority’s executive committee at a later date.

Under the plans, the service would operate 12 wholetime fire engines, unchanged from the current level, alongside 12 on-call engines — down from 18 — and up to six reserve fire engines. Overall, the fleet would reduce from 35 vehicles to 30.

Specialist vehicles would also be introduced at several stations, including a rural firefighting vehicle at Amersham and West Ashland, and a crew welfare unit at Beaconsfield.

The authority is also expected to confirm that the on-call capability at Buckingham Fire Station will be retained and enhanced following consultation feedback. The station would receive a dual-purpose lightweight 4x4 fire engine capable of operating both as a standard fire appliance with four crew and as a rural or wildfire response vehicle with two.

Reasons for the proposals

According to the report, on-call fire engine availability across Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes has historically been low. Data shows on-call appliances were available within 10 minutes only 7.2 per cent of the time on average during 2024–25.

Availability at Great Missenden and Stokenchurch fire stations has been recorded at zero per cent for several years, while some on-call engines attended only a small number of incidents over a full year.

Risk modelling contained in the service’s Community Risk Management Plan indicates that 12 fire engines meet day-to-day demand, while up to 22 may be needed for larger or prolonged incidents. Situations requiring more than that are described as rare.

The proposed model would maintain 24 crewed fire engines supported by six reserve appliances.

What did consultation feedback say?

A public consultation held between November 2025 and January 2026 attracted 1,083 responses through surveys, focus groups, drop-in sessions and submissions from organisations. According to the authority, 56 per cent of respondents agreed that changes were needed, with the strongest support coming from fire service staff.

Feedback from the consultation led to several adjustments to the proposals, including retaining the on-call presence at Buckingham Fire Station, strengthening the reserve fleet and providing clearer explanations of the role of specialist vehicles.

Concerns raised during the consultation focused on response times, rural fire cover, future housing growth and the morale of on-call firefighters.

Financial considerations

The authority says the programme is not primarily driven by savings, but estimates it would avoid around £2 million in costs over 15 years by not replacing five removed fire engines and their equipment.

Further financial impacts include around £40,000 a year in reduced maintenance costs and an estimated £75,000 from the sale of end-of-life fire engines. The service would also avoid about £300,000 in immediate capital works required to keep the Great Missenden and Stokenchurch stations operational.

Any efficiencies generated by the changes would be reinvested into improving the on-call system, according to the report.

If the proposals are approved, the changes would be introduced gradually, with the timing of implementation delegated to the Chief Fire Officer.

The meeting will be recorded and later published on the fire service’s YouTube channel. Members of the public can also attend in person at the Gateway Offices in Aylesbury.