The Fire Brigades Union has revealed that 221 firefighter positions have been cut since Grenfell, as the fifth anniversary of the fire takes place on 14 June.
The figure comes after large cuts to the fire and rescue service in the run-up to Grenfell, with for example the UK losing over 11,000 firefighter roles between 2010 and 2017, which is nearly one in five, and represent a failure to change course after years of deep cuts prior to Grenfell.
Matt Wrack, Fire Brigades Union general secretary, said:
“Despite the worst UK domestic fire in living memory the government is still failing to change direction, and take fire safety and the fire service seriously. It is an insult to the people who lost their lives and it is an insult to the Grenfell community.
“Unfortunately none of this is a surprise. Central government let Grenfell be turned into a fire trap and has done nothing to fix the building safety crisis that has come to light since. But nonetheless, we should not take our eye off just how heartless you have to be to see an incident like Grenfell and then continue on a path like this. They are gambling with lives.”
A comparison of official figures, collated from Home Office and respective home nation sources, shows that there are less firefighters, defined to include fire control staff, now compared to the time of Grenfell.
At the headcount performed closest to Grenfell itself – on 31 March 2017 – there was a total of 48,338 fulltime, on-call and fire control staff. On that same date four years later (2021), the most recent update, that total had dipped to 48,117.
Excludes Isle of Scilly. These figures are taken from Home Office and respective home nation sources, and relate to headcounts on 31 March of each year. Firefighters are defined to include fire control staff.
