A Fife councillor has called for more clarity from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service as to how it hopes to protect and sustain retained firefighters as the backbone of the fire service in rural North-East Fife.
Cupar councillor Margaret Kennedy, Fife Liberal Democrat spokesperson on community safety, has raised questions following national concerns raised by the Fire Brigades Union about the position of retained duty fire stations.
It came as Liberal Democrat group leader Tim Brett held a meeting with Iain Vincent, lead officer for the National Fire Service in Fife to discuss the issues.
All of the North-East Fife fire stations are manned on a retained duty basis. The stations in Cupar and St Andrews each have two appliances while those in Anstruther, Auchtermuchty, Newburgh, St Monans and Tayport each have one.
The retained officers rely on being able to fulfil their firefighting duties by their substantive employer allowing them time to do so. This can be particularly challenging between the hours of 8am and 5pm. According to Mr Vincent, this is a problem that the fire service in Scotland is seeking to address.
Mrs Kennedy said: “The retained service provides the backbone to our fire service amongst many communities and as such should hold a prominent position in terms of future service delivery of Fire and Rescue Scotland.
“I would value more clarity from the fire and rescue authority as to how it intends to protect and sustain this vital service for the future. Locally it is clear to me how our lead officer and the FBU Reps value them, having discussed this subject with them on various occasions. It was particularly pleasing to note, however, that the station at Newburgh was the second best, in terms of availability, of any retained station in Scotland.”
Mr Brett said the fact that some retained officers cannot always be clear on their availability was of concern. He said: “I was however reassured by the information that Iain Vincent provided, as the situation is not getting any worse and the fire service are looking at innovative ways of trying to encourage the recruitment of more retained firefighters and to improve availability.”
Mr Brett said the retained firefighters are also assisted by 30 regular firefighters who take part in the retained service. Mr Vincent concluded the discussions with Mr Brett by saying that this issue was being looked at nationally by the new National Fire Services.
Mr Brett concluded it was good to have the opportunity of meeting Mr Vincent to discuss this as communities in North East Fife rely on their retained firefighters.
He added: “Whilst it is possible that the retained service can be backed up by the full-time stations, either from other parts of Fife or from Dundee or Perth, it is good to know that every effort is made to try and ensure that the retained officers are available for as many hours a week as possible.”
A Scottish Fire and Rescue service spokesperson told The Courier: “Local scrutiny and engagement is of great importance to the SFRS and we will continue to strengthen our contact with a range of stakeholders to ensure that the service we deliver is informed by our communities.”