Just months after the settlement of the UK-wide pay dispute, firefighters are once again facing a battle – this time over cuts to the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).
Following the announcement of a “flat cash” budget from the Scottish government between 2022 and 2027, the service is scrapping jobs and equipment.
A frozen budget means big funding reductions in real terms – £11m this year alone, and an estimated £36m over five years.
More than 1,000 firefighter jobs have already been lost in Scotland since 2012, when the nation-wide SFRS was set up. The latest cuts will mean the loss of fire appliances and hundreds more jobs.
So far, Glenrothes, Methil, Kingsway East in Dundee, and Cowcaddens, Govan, Maryhill and Hamilton in Glasgow are set to lose their second appliance. Dunfermline, Kirkcaldy, Perth, Crewe Toll in Edinburgh, and Greenock in Glasgow will either lose their height appliance or have a combined aerial rescue platform replaced with a dedicated height appliance. Glasgow’s Polmadie station is set to lose its dedicated boat team. Each station will lose between 10 and 20 jobs. This is a provisional list of cuts, and may evolve.
The Scottish government blames many of the funding issues on Westminster-imposed austerity. Colin Brown, Scotland’s representative on the FBU’s executive council, calls this out. “The Scottish government is the key decision-maker here, and it’s within their power to invest the money to deliver the public services that Scotland deserves,” he said.
Brown points to a report by the Scottish Trades Union Congress (STUC), released in December. It outlines a package of progressive reforms to Scotland’s tax system which could immediately raise an additional £1.3bn a year, rising to £3.3bn by 2026.
That same solidarity we showed in the pay campaign can be brought to bear in this campaign too’
In recent weeks, the FBU in Scotland has stepped up its campaign against the cuts. Tayside and Fife have been a flashpoint for protests, with large and lively demonstrations taking place outside council chambers in Glenrothes and Dundee.
“We’ve had firefighters travelling to protests from all across the country,” said Perth branch rep David Evans. “People even travelled down from Inverness after their nightshift.”
The FBU is now engaged in an intensive lobbying operation in an effort to shift MSPs, councils and the Scottish government. Already, local councils such as Fife have declared their opposition to the cuts.
“The mood has switched from deflated to angry and determined,” said Brown. “When you start to campaign, you realise that same solidarity we showed in the pay campaign can be brought to bear in this campaign too”.
“We’re in the early stages of the climate crisis now,” said Evans, “and with new awareness of the carcinogenic risks firefighters face, there’s a real need for improved DECON. Now is the time to invest in our service.”
■ A national demonstration will take place in Glasgow on 24 August. Firefighters from across the UK will be called on to attend.
