Don’t let the reforms put fire safety at risk, ministers told

A SINGLE Scottish fire service is to be announced by ministers, despite warnings the proposed £59 million efficiency savings would put lives at risk

The Scotsman understands officials will meet chief officers and fire board conveners tomorrow to outline plans for reshaping the organisation.

Both the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) and Association of Chief Fire Officers in Scotland (Acfos) have warned ministers that plans for efficiency savings of up to £59m a year – with up to £35m taken out of frontline emergency response – would endanger the public.

John Duffy, Scottish secretary of the FBU, said: “If someone proposes taking that amount of money out of operational firefighting we would not be able to deliver anything like the same fire and rescue service we have come to know.

“That would have a huge impact on public safety.

“The service is based on risk and where the risk is. If you eat into the resources that we’ve got, the risk won’t go away.

“But if the fire engines and the crews have gone away, then that would have a very serious and negative impact on public safety.

“At present, we rescue more people than we did previously. If we are not able to rescue as many people, the more would be injured and more would die.”

However, he added: “The discussions we have had between ourselves, the chief officers and the Scottish Government have been very positive. We expect proposals to come forward that are very different from the first draft.”

The timeline for fire reform will start with a formal announcement by First Minister Alex Salmond on 7 September that there will be a single Scottish police force and fire service.

Further details are likely to be revealed the following day by justice secretary Kenny MacAskill. A funding announcement from finance secretary John Swinney on 21 September is expected to detail the costs of merger.

A national fire board will be set up by March or April next year, and a chief fire officer for Scotland will be appointed towards the end of 2012.

Ministers hope the new service will be in place by April 2013, although this could be put back if legislation faces challenges as it goes through the Scottish Parliament, or if the new service experiences teething problems.

However, the Scottish Government could face a backlash if it does not make major changes to its draft business plan, which was revealed to firefighters and fire chiefs over the summer.

That report itself admitted: “Overall, a move to a national service was identified as bearing the most risk, which is not unexpected, given the model is the furthest from the status quo and would require the greatest change.”

It is hoped the Scottish Government will “distance” itself from its initial proposals and take the professionals’ concerns into account by reducing efficiency-saving targets.

The Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) has warned the draft business case for a national service was “fundamentally flawed” and unlikely to generate the promised savings of £59m a year.

The organisation’s president, Pat Watters, has claimed 1,500 jobs would have to go to yield that saving, and warned such a move would be “irresponsible”.

The FBU supports some form of restructuring to offset financial problems, particularly after seeing a cut of 250 frontline firefighter positions in two years.

However, the union still has reservations, and in a strongly worded letter to Roseanna Cunningham, minister for community safety, Mr Duffy wrote: “We do not consider the removal of large blocks of funding from the frontline to be the best method of enhancing, or of protecting, the current – or future – service delivery capabilities.”

He added: “Many years of hard work have gone into reducing the risk of fire, yet despite some improvement in fire statistics, Scotland remains with persistently high levels of fire-related damage, injury and death.

“The capacity for the service to continue to reduce the risk of fire should not be diminished by any structural reform.”

Acfos has been equally concerned by the Scottish Government’s plans.

David Dalziel, general secretary of Acfos, said: “On the basis of the original outline, we had significant professional concerns about a single fire service.

“There was a significant reduction in operational response – £16m to £35m taken from response. And any significant reduction in senior staff will have implications for fire officers’ safety.

“However, we understand they have distanced themselves from that business case and have taken those concerns into account. We hope the Scottish Government takes on board our expressed concerns, and we will work together to make the best we can of any political decision.”

Ministers insist restructuring is needed in the face of budget cuts, but have promised not to harm frontline firefighting.

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “Reform is vital to safeguard Scotland’s excellent fire and rescue services and protect frontline services in the face of budget cuts from Westminster.

“Our outline business case identifies key issues, such as service delivery, so we can work with the fire and rescue service to ensure they are effectively addressed by reform.

“We have been talking to firefighters and others over the summer about the most appropriate way forward, and detailed proposals will be brought before parliament after recess.”