Fighting fire service cuts across the country

Firefighters are facing renewed attempts to cut staffing in many areas. This risks safety and the responses the public needs in the face of fire, flooding and other emergencies.

At the same time the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has strongly criticised the government response to its May 2022 consultation – only now published in December 2023. The FBU says that the proposals will undermine pay agreements and will sideline the views of firefighters.

Manifesto

Worse still the government seems to have no inclination to reverse the cuts in jobs – 1 in 5 since 2010 – or plans to set national standards on response times and crew numbers. In contrast the union’s Firefighters Manifesto clearly sets out what the service needs – funding, standards and input from firefighters.

And in the meantime, firefighters are taking on local fire authorities seeking to impose cuts – in Avon and Hereford & Worcester for example. They have managed to reverse a decision to downgrade stations in North Wales.

Not agreed

On Merseyside control room staff plan to strike for 8 days from Wednesday 27 December in response to a reduction in night time staffing and the introduction of a shift system not agreed with the union.

Ian Hibbert, FBU Merseyside secretary said, “Our members in fire control are the undisputed occupational experts, who are dealing with an employer that not only ignores that expertise, but seeks to rip up local agreements that protect control staff, firefighters and members of the public alike”.