Local government

Firefighters have called on the mayor of London to suspend plans to scrap 13 fire engines after the London Fire Brigade (LFB) missed its target attendance time when responding to a fire in which a man died. The fire took hold in the early hours of Sunday at 86-year-old Raymond Lister’s property in...

A coalition of Conservative and Liberal Democrat Councillors have dealt the death blow to hopes that the Gloucestershire town of Painswick would keep its fire station and six retained fire officers in their jobs. Labour took the Gloucestershire County Council's (GCC) cabinet decision to use a...

The Fire Brigades Union has warned that the crisis facing the county’s fire and rescue service will worsen following agreement by Cambridgeshire Fire and Rescue Authority (CFRA) to a plan to use private contractor Serco to provide cover for chronic firefighter shortages in the county. A meeting of...

The Labour group on Gloucestershire County Council have used a procedural move to challenge the decision to cut frontline fire and rescue services. The procedure, known as a ‘call-in’, will challenge the consultation process that led to the decision to close Painswick fire station and cut full-time...

Northumberland County Council has been urged by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) to reject dangerous cuts to fire and rescue services and instead follow the example of their Cumbrian counterparts. Yesterday (4 February) Cumbria County Council reversed its decision to close five fire stations citing the...

Five fire stations earmarked for closure in Cumbria have been saved after the local council cited the recent floods as a key reason to keep the stations operational. Cumbria County Council confirmed the decision at a meeting of its cabinet this morning (4 February). Les Skarratts, secretary of the...

Vital frontline fire and rescue services are to be axed across Gloucestershire despite warnings it will take firefighters much longer to get to emergencies. Cabinet members of Gloucestershire county council met today (3 February) and voted unanimously to close Painswick fire station and to cut all...

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Gloucestershire has slammed senior managers in the county’s fire and rescue service for “suspending” full-time fire cover at Cirencester fire station, despite a public consultation into the future of fire cover at this station being inconclusive. Fire cover in...

What: Lobby of the West Midlands Fire Authority Where: West Midlands Fire Service HQ, Vauxhall Road, Birmingham, B7 4HW. When: 10am, Monday 23 November 2015 Large numbers of West Midlands firefighters will hold a demonstration outside West Midlands Fire Service headquarters on Monday morning ahead...

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) in Gloucestershire will be stepping up their campaign against cuts to the local fire and rescue service this weekend. Gloucestershire County Council are planning a series of cuts to the frontline fire service which local firefighters say are dangerous and will...