Steps to address partial performance

Conference demands that the Executive Council take steps to address issues related
to partial performance.

To this end Conference calls upon the Executive Council to:

a. ensure that discussions are commenced with the appropriate Government
departments; local employers and/or national employers as appropriate on
the matter of partial performance; and,

b. investigate whether the Fire Authority or senior managers who took these
decisions have to any extent breached their statutory responsibilities, or in
any way acted unlawfully.

This is necessary due to the unprecedented nature by which partial performance was
implemented in Buckinghamshire during the course of the pensions dispute.

A Fire and Rescue Service which implements partial performance prior to and/or
following periods of strike action does so in the full knowledge that fire cover is being
jeopardised. This exposes the public to extended periods of risk. The motivation by
the employer in Buckinghamshire for making this decision was financial.
This financial gain was at the expense of the health and safety of the public and
firefighters from the surrounding Fire and Rescue Services. The employer made a
deliberate decision to preserve its financial position to the detriment of public safety.

This is an erroneous decision and one which Conference unreservedly denounces.
If during the course of this work it becomes apparent that the Fire Authority or senior
managers who took these decisions have breached their statutory responsibilities, or
in any way acted unlawfully, the FBU shall utilise all legal avenues to hold those
decision makers to account for their actions.