The Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority held an extraordinary meeting where the main item for discussion was a notice of motion regarding the cessation of work to cut fire engines and close fire stations through the On Call Improvement Programme . The meeting was also scheduled to cover apologies, declarations of interest, chairman's announcements, petitions, and questions.

Notice of Motion: Cessation of Work to Cut Fire Engines and Close Fire Stations through On Call Improvement Programme

Councillor Simon Rouse proposed a motion, seconded by Councillor Gary Hall, regarding the On Call Improvement Programme . The motion stated that certain Lead Members and office holders of the authority were asked in July by officers to support progressing to public consultation two options that could lead to a reduction in on-call provision of eight fire engines and the potential closure of two stations. The councillors named in the motion were Councillor Llew Monger, Councillor Robin Stuchbury, Councillor Tracey Bailey, Councillor Moriah Priestley, Councillor Niknam Hussain and Councillor Stuart Wilson.

The motion also noted that the meeting in July excluded the Conservative Group Leader and other members of the Executive Committee from the Conservative Group, the largest Group on the Authority, and that no minutes of this meeting are publicly available.

The motion stated that the proposals were counter to the strategic direction given to officers by the previous Conservative Group led Executive Committee, in an informal working group meeting on 12th February 2025, which directed that closure of stations would not be acceptable, and that specifically removal of fire engines from Haddenham, Stokenchurch, and Great Missenden would not be acceptable.

The motion stated a belief that the Lead members and office holders do not have the authority to be seen to give support for these proposals to be put to staff and to pre-public consultation without full Fire Authority Approval or its committees. It also stated a belief that these proposals have already damaged public confidence in the Service and caused community concern.

The motion instructed:

• The Monitoring Officer to write to all Lead Members and the Chair of Overview and Audit to remind them of the scope of their role under the rules governing the Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes Fire Authority.
• That before any proposals to go to the Fire Authority for progression to full public consultation, the Executive Committee should undertake a detailed review of the original proposals and the feedback from staff, Member and pre-public consultation.
• That the Executive Committee should also consider proposals from the Chief Fire Officer in relation to operational independence, prior to any proposals being put forward to the Fire Authority to go to full public consultation.
• That the Extraordinary Fire Authority intended on 12th November 2025 be cancelled.
• The Fire Authority Chairman to write to all councillors and Members of Parliament in the Service's area of Buckinghamshire and Milton Keynes to advise of the introduction of a detailed review step by the Executive Committee prior to any proposals for full public consultation being put before the Fire Authority. The text to be used in the letter was included in the Public Reports Pack.

Other Business

The agenda for the meeting also included:

• Apologies for absence.
• Disclosure of interests.
• Chairman's announcements.
• Petitions under Standing Order SOA6.
• Questions in accordance with Standing Order SOA7.
• Date of the next meeting.