Responding to fire minister Brandon Lewis’ speech today, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has expressed concern that cost savings and not public safety are at the heart of the government’s ‘reform’ agenda.
The FBU welcomes the new proposals for an independent inspectorate for the fire and rescue service, standing alone as the only organisation that has supported independent scrutiny. The union has pressed for it over many years, alongside increased transparency and improved professional standards. It has been a long time coming, and the FBU is glad that the government has finally recognised the importance of independent inspection.
The union, however, remains extremely concerned at the focus on cost efficiencies, given that sustained cuts have significantly slowed response times to incidents, whilst the number of people killed in fires has risen sharply in the last year.
Matt Wrack, FBU general secretary, said: “The FBU is not opposed to genuine reform, in fact it welcomes it if public safety is to be improved, but we are not at all certain from today’s announcement that this is going to be at the heart of the new look fire and rescue service.
“Firefighters have been collaborating with other emergency services for years, but we remain very worried that PCCs now are going to be driving the pace of reform. PCCs don’t know anything about how our professional, trained firefighters work. They say there isn’t going to be a blurring of roles between police and firefighters, but our members need to be reassured that their independence from the police is going to be respected and protected. The public trust firefighters and they rely on that trust to access peoples’ homes. This trust is invaluable in the interests of public safety, and it cannot be put at risk.
“Brandon Lewis spoke about how the sector can protect frontline services while keeping taxes down. All we have seen since 2010 are job losses, equipment losses, station closures and slower response times. We are not reassured that we are going to see this unfortunate, worrying trend reversed.”
