Clackmannanshire and Stirling fire crews raise concerns

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has echoed those concerns after an anonymous tip-off to the Advertiser revealed that on July 11, only two on-call fire appliances were available across Clackmannanshire and Stirling alongside a whole-time pump at Callander, out of a possible 14.

Crews spoke of an increasing number of vacancies and difficulties in retaining qualified personnel, leading to a strain on fire stations.

On-call firefighters, who are in the service as secondary employment and are alerted to incidents by pager, cover some 80 per cent of Scotland’s landmass and are an integral part of the service in what is called the retained duty system (RDS).

The Advertiser understands it is common for around half of RDS appliances covering Clacks, Stirling, Fife, Falkirk, West Lothian, City of Edinburgh, Mid and East Lothian as well as the Scottish Borders to be unavailable during traditional daytime hours.

Resources from further afield can help plug the gaps, but at the cost of increased response times.

(Image: Newsquest)

According to the FBU, since the formation of the single service in 2013, some 1,200 uniformed positions have been lost.

In September last year, 10 wholetime appliances were removed from the service, alongside 14 high reach appliances, leading to a further reduction of around 160 uniformed positions.

Within the RDS, it is believed there is a vacancy rate of around 30 per cent and around 10 per cent of its employees leave the service each year.

Steve Weir, east area secretary for FBU Scotland, told the Advertiser: “The FBU continues to raise these concerns both publicly and politically.

“Our political leaders, since the formation of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in 2013 , have set inadequate year on year budgets, leading to the current and significant challenges faced by SFRS, in both recruiting and retaining RDS firefighters.

“These men and women work tirelessly to protect the communities that they live in, but with a 30 per cent vacancy rate within the RDS, it is not possible to operate an efficient, effectively performing emergency service, with almost a third of the workforce missing.

“This situation increases the risk to both firefighters and the communities that they serve.”

SFRS explained it is always working to recruit and upskill crews.

Kenny Barbour – local senior officer for Clackmannanshire, Fife and Stirling – said: “Our appliances can be unavailable for a number of reasons, including primary employment commitments, staff training or availability of staff with required skill sets.

“As a national service we continuously review our resources to ensure we attend every emergency.

“The on-call duty system is a pivotal element to our operating model and we are working continuously to recruit, upskill and enable our teams to be safe, effective and available for the communities that they serve.“

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In its Firestorm report, published last October, the FBU warned that the “SFRS is in crisis and morale is low amongst its staff”.

The union fears that future years will only bring more cuts and a further decline in the service – meanwhile crews are doing their utmost to carry on with their duties.

(Image: Newsquest)

Following the publication of the report last year, a Scottish Government spokesperson said firefighters “play a vital role” and went on: “Whilst the allocation of resources, along with the recruitment and retention of firefighters, is an operational matter for SFRS, we are maintaining front-line services, with a higher number of firefighters in Scotland than other parts of the UK.

“Ministers will continue engaging with the FBU to discuss their concerns.”