Fife Fire and Rescue Service will lose 5% of its frontline officers in the next few months as cuts begin to bite.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Fife 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.
FBU Fife branch chairman Graeme Birtley said, “We are the only fire and rescue service who do not recruit new firefighters.
“The reductions to our financial budget over the last four years have resulted in us not having enough money to pay every firefighter’s wages and to prevent redundancies in Fife we are now losing up to 5% of our whole-time establishment to neighbouring fire and rescue services.
“What is most concerning for me at this time, and for the firefighters, officers and emergency control staff I represent in Fife, is how we survive the cuts that are currently happening in Fife.”
The Fife service said that around 14 firefighters would be transferred to other brigades including Tayside, Central and Strathclyde over May and June. Another 10 are set to retire.
Fife is planning an overhaul of its staffing and shift patterns and the shake-up coincides with a Scottish Government consultation on proposals to merge the country’s eight fire and rescue services.
On the announcement of the consultation in January, the FBU described the move as, “A bold initiative that can and must protect the service from the worst effects of the UK budget cuts.”
Mr Birtley said he feared further staffing cuts in Fife could impact on the service’s ability to deploy fire appliances and he said it was up to the next Scottish Government, after the May 5 election, to ensure brigades were adequately staffed until a decision is made on restructuring plans.
He said, “Once the new government gets in, if they decide to run with the restructuring proposals that’s going to take some time. In the interim period we would want them to look at the funding of all eight fire and rescue services and ensure that if there is a shortfall, that is plugged until the restructuring is implemented.Anxiety”It is only natural that our members are anxious with regards to the outcome of the consultation as it is nearing the end of the process.
“We are about to enter the unknown and whilst there may be differences within the FBU there are also differences within the Chief Fire Officers’ Association, the Scottish Fire Conveners’ Forum and other stakeholder groups.
“With a lot of hard work from everyone who is connected with the fire service I have every confidence that a consensus can be reached.”
Fife’s Chief Fire Officer Neil McFarlane said the brigade had to identify efficiency savings after its budget was cut by 4%.
But he reassured the public that any changes were being implemented in line with the service’s philosophy of maintaining the safety of the public and firefighters.
“We took a raft of measures to balance the budget,” he said. “We brought in a model for crewing special appliances and that has given us the opportunity to remove 24 operational posts. About 13 to 14 posts will be transferred to other brigades and the others will leave through retirement.”
With less firefighters, the chief fire officer did not rule out the possibility that frontline crew members could be working longer hours.
He added, “It’s too early to say what the outcome is going to be. We’re exploring a suite of options in terms of new duty systems and that work has just commenced and is being done in partnership with the FBU.
“We are working towards an alternative delivery model that best meets the needs of the community and meets the needs of firefighters.”