Any further cuts to front-line fire and rescue staff in Fife would pose a danger to the public and fire crews, a Fife councillor has claimed.
Andrew Rodger, who is a member of the local authority’s fire and safety committee’s scrutiny group, said he has been “inundated” by letters and emails from fire staff, concerned about the future of the region’s already downgraded service.
He said anxiety was mounting about the lack of recruitment in the region and warned it could ultimately impact on the service’s ability to respond to incidents and public safety.
Mr Rodger said, “The high volume of correspondence I have been receiving tells me front-line staff have a real concern about the risks involved to the people of Fife if there are more cuts.
“They are already struggling, due to the recruitment freeze, the issue of staffing levels on special appliances and the fact that fire staff are being transferred to other brigades outwith Fife.
“I have been informed there are to be a further 25 redundancies in the near future, which is also a real worry to fire crews.”
Mr Rodger, who attended a scrutiny group meeting on the issue recently, said he believed that the existing budget allocated to the service would be maintained for the next year but after that drastic measures could be put in place such as further redundancies, station closures, the selling-off of fire appliances and further downgrading of services.
He said, “This is a matter of urgency that we can’t afford to ignore.
“Cutting an emergency service such as this can only have a direct, detrimental impact on firefighters and the community they serve and they have a right to be kept informed something that clearly isn’t happening at the moment, judging by the amount of concerns through emails and letters I have received, as well as a number of private discussions.”Continued scrutinyHe added, “I would like to reassure all the firefighters in Fife that I will continue to scrutinise the issue and keep both them and the public informed.”
Mr Rodger’s comments echo the views of Fire Brigades Union chairman Graeme Birtley who has told The Courier that there were not enough firefighters to staff the region’s appliances and that the service’s senior officers were being asked to do “the impossible.”
“The risk to the people of Fife has not changed, yet we understand that station closures, reductions in firefighter numbers and downgrading of fire cover are all being considered to make financial savings, with no consideration of the risk to the public,” he said.
Union members made their feelings clear by way of a demonstration at the Scottish Parliament, in protest of the idea of a single fire service for Scotland.
Mr Birtley said the public in Fife deserve “a fully-funded local fire service able to respond safely to the needs of the community.”
Union officials warn that, since a 2% per annum cut to budgets in 2005, Fife Fire and Rescue is already unable to respond to some incidents, particularly in the west of the region, as quickly as it once could.
Extracts from the Scottish Government’s draft outline business case show that Fife Fire and Rescue service funding for 2010/11 stood at £20 million but it could be slashed by 4% in each of the next four years.
Fife’s chief fire officer Neil McFarlane has repeatedly stressed that any changes will be implemented in line with the service’s philosophy of maintaining the safety of the public and firefighters.