Fire chief warns more cuts would be 'catastrophic'

THE chief fire officer in Edinburgh and the Lothians has claimed that any more cuts in funding would be "catastrophic" as he warned more of his staff faced losing their jobs.

• Jimmy Campbell

Jimmy Campbell, who took up the top role last July, said he had already been forced to cope with 14 voluntary redundancies as he managed a 1.2 million drop in funding this year.

The staff who have already lost their jobs represent 18 per cent of the Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service's non-front line staff, and Mr Campbell said more may yet go.

He said the fire service could not swallow any more cutbacks and called for funding to be sourced from elsewhere if the plan for Scotland's eight fire services to merge into one goes ahead.

He said: "All redundancies are voluntary at the moment, but finances are a challenge. The 1.2m worth of cuts have been found for the next year, but when the cuts really start to bite there is only so far we can go. The only way we can cope in future is to cut jobs because salaries take up 86 per cent of our budget.

"There is no doubt that we will protect our front line services. Firefighters will not be going. Managerial roles will be going."

A public consultation headed by Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill is currently looking at ways the fire service can make millions of pounds worth of cuts nationwide, including an option to merge the eight services into one single service.

Mr Campbell said: "What we really need to know is how much the transitional costs will be. How the move will be funded is a good question. We can't take any more cuts, that would be catastrophic.

"I think a central office should be in Edinburgh. The history and tradition of Edinburgh, plus the fact the government is based here, means it makes sense for the Scottish centre to be here."

He added that it was too early to decide what to do about the eight control rooms - the specialised departments that advise the public and are in direct contact with firefighters - but said some would close.

He said: "Until we have concluded how many fire and rescue services there will be it wouldn't be appropriate to comment, but it would be prudent to reduce the number of control rooms. It is possible they will reduce from eight to three based on regions.

"What is certain is that any changes we make are not about self-interest, it's about offering a world-class fire service and a whole range of services."

Mr Campbell said that a previous idea to merge fire and rescue services with police and ambulance services was something to consider in the future.

He said: "Economically, we're not ready for that, but it is something to consider in future. Fire and ambulance services work well together in the United States and this is an infrastructure both services could benefit from."