The Labour leader in Swindon is urging Swindon Borough Council to follow in the footsteps of Surrey County Council and consider declaring the fuel shortage a ‘major incident’.
That will allow the council to designate fuel supplies to ensure priority workers are a priority for being able to access fuel.
Councillor Jim Grant, has written to David Haley, acting chief executive of Swindon Borough Council to convene an immediate meeting of the Local Resilience Forum (LRF) in order to consider the option of declaring the current Fuel Crisis as a major incident.
“I am writing to you to ask that Swindon Borough Council convenes a meeting of the Local Resilience Forum in order to consider the option of declaring the current fuel crisis a major incident.
“Should the LRF declare a major incident then I would hope that it would use the powers at its disposal to prioritise key workers in getting access to fuel.
“Surrey County Council is already taking this step and I would urge Swindon to follow suit.
“It may well be that others are correct and that the situation returns to normal in the next few days but if that isn’t the case then we need to make sure Swindon has taken all necessary steps to prevent the situation from worsening.”
The Swindon and Wiltshire Local Resilience Forum is chaired by Kier Pritchard, Chief Constable of Wiltshire Police and is made up of:
- Emergency Services (Wiltshire Police, British Transport Police, Dorset and Wiltshire Fire & Rescue Service, South Western Ambulance Service)
- Local Authorities (Wiltshire Council, Swindon Borough Council)
- NHS England
- Public Health England
- Environment Agency
