Cuts

Cheshire firefighters have spoken out against a plan which is set to see some crews sent to incidents with no firefighting equipment except a single fire extinguisher. Additionally, this will involve attendance by just two to three firefighters, and in a pick-up truck rather than a fire engine. The...

The FBU has today written to Cumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Peter McCall to ask he drops his plan to become Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner (PFCC) after the public rejected the proposal in a consultation. The letter asks “As the voice of the public and the staff have responded, the FBU...

Cumbria PCC Peter McCall has lost his own consultation on becoming a PFCC (Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner), which he had backed. Out of the 363 public and stakeholder responses only 46% of respondents wanted to see a Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner in Cumbria, whereas 54% preferred the...

The Fire Brigades Union in Scotland played an active part in the annual Scottish Trade Union Congress, which took place last week, pushing forward work on vital fire and rescue issues. The FBU delegation moved two motions, one on firefighters and public safety and another on firefighter pension...

The FBU has highlighted the role of Brandon Lewis in damaging the fire and rescue service in the years preceding Grenfell as he appears before the inquiry. Brandon Lewis MP was minister with responsibility for fire between 2012 and 2014, and again from 2016 to 2017. Today he is the Secretary of...

The FBU has responded to a new UN report on climate change by stating that much more needs to be done on climate change in terms of both prevention and adapting to its devastating impacts. The report, released yesterday and from the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, suggests that...

Response times by the fire and rescue service to significant fires in England have slowed by the biggest amount since 2015. New figures show that the average response time for primary fires in England was 8 minutes and 43 seconds for the year ending September 2021, a slowing of six seconds when...

A fire and rescue service is facing having to borrow at least £25m, equal to around 70% of its annual budget, to fund new equipment and other spending, after the government abolished its capital grant for it. At a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel Michael Porter, director...