Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Social Justice – in the Senedd at 2:12 pm on 25 January 2023.
Good afternoon, Deputy Minister. Just to follow up on the situation in mid and west Wales, where I represent, along with others, the chief fire officer there highlighted the unsustainability of our fire services in rural areas if things carry on as they are. And I'm sure that we'd all be concerned about that. The service in mid and west Wales is staffed by majority-retained firefighters and is supported by wholetime staff. However, the service is finding it more and more difficult to recruit and retain those firefighters. It's clear that the offer, in terms of pay, isn't commensurate with the number of hours that they work—some of them around 120 hours. So, I wondered if there would be a review of the Welsh Government grant, so that our fire services can make the necessary increases to our retained firefighter service. Diolch yn fawr iawn.