Local government

Legislation to allow police and crime commissioners (PCC) to govern fire and rescue services in England has been forced through without any great support from firefighters, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) general secretary has said. In a video update, filmed just before the legislation was given royal...

Firefighters have warned politicians that plans to axe 49 firefighter posts at Avon Fire and Rescue Service represent an “unacceptable and dangerous” threat to the safety of the public. The proposals, which will be voted upon by fire authority members on 10 February, would see the downgrading of...

The Mayor of London should consider giving firefighters access to specialist housing in the capital to better prepare the city’s response to a future terror attack. The newly published Harris review into London’s preparedness for an attack has sounded alarm bells about the lack of emergency service...

There have been calls for the chair of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Authority to quit after the local branch of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) unanimously passed a vote of no confidence in his leadership. The union says firefighters have lost confidence in David Acton after the authority backed...

Just days into the job, the new fire chief for Cambridgeshire and his employer have been slammed for taking advantage of controversial arrangements that allowed him to access his pension and then to walk back into the same job, and to subsequently receive a promotion to the rank of chief fire...

Northumberland County Council are deliberately ignoring the results of a public consultation over a half million pound budget cut to fire and rescue services, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has said. The views of the public who responded to the consultation undertaken by Northumberland Fire and...

Claims by Berkshire’s fire authority that frontline fire and rescue services will not be affected by a multi-million pound budget cut has been met with ridicule by local firefighters. Royal Berkshire fire authority met last week to agree a financial settlement for the county’s fire service that will...