FBU blasts firemaster's plans to close Highland stations
FIRE stations could be closed across the region to help make savings and improve firefighter safety.
The area’s Fire Board will be presented the latest installment of chief fire officer Trevor Johnson’s service improvement plans on Friday.
He intends to have his power to suspend operations at fire stations noted and hold another meeting on 2nd March to decide criteria of unsustainable stations, which would close.
A report by Mr Johnson which will be discussed at Highland Council’s headquarters in Inverness can be accessed by clicking here.
The Fire Brigades Union has vowed strong resistance against any closures. Regional branch chairman Calum MacNeill has produced the following response:
"We believe that the board members will not be content with allowing Trevor the authority to close or suspend stations without prior approval. Some board members are extremely unhappy that the service they are responsible for the scrutiny of, has found itself in the position that they do now. I understand that some councillors are questioning the decision making process of senior managers over the years and will therefore wish to maintain control of such important decisions.
"Trevor has assured us that he does not have a prescriptive list of which stations may be under threat and that the service has not yet decided what criteria would be considered when reviewing station sustainability.
"What is most concerning to us is that the need for a fire station within a community should be based solely on a plan which identifies risk within the area that any station might be required to respond to. Given the varying risks across the Highlands from hotels, to nuclear sites, and M.O.D. fuel storage depots — these are the only criteria that should be considered when reviewing a fire station and not whether or not the station costs too much in relation to the number of times it’s called out.
"The FBU are also acutely aware that in some of the locations across our area the presence of a fire station not only provides a feeling of security, it can more importantly provide a community focus, not to mention an income in areas where work can be hard to come by. In many rural locations the question is about the sustainability of the community without the fire station and not the sustainability of the station itself.
"If the senior managers are intent on closing stations then the stations under review should be identified as soon as possible to allow the FBU and the local firefighters and their community to fight any proposed closure or suspension. Having a prolonged period of uncertainty achieves nothing but install a nervousness in almost all of our stations. What type of care and consideration is being given by Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Station to its staff to treat them in this way and have them worry whether the axe is hanging over their station.
"Overall the Audit Scotland report doesn’t paint a good picture of the management of HIFRS. Although it states that leadership has improved of late, the FBU believe this is too little, too late.
"Since the publication of the internal health and safety report the FBU have focused squarely on the safety of our members. We have raised concerns that HIFRS was not providing the appropriate level of training to its staff. Our retained members do a fantastic job to the best of their ability with the limited training they have been provided. In some circumstances we believe that senior service managers have over the years ignored the fact that HIFRS expect all of its operational staff to attend any type of emergency incident without necessarily providing them with the appropriate knowledge to be able to deal with it.
"It is our belief that some managers who are currently controlling the direction of the service have been party to the lack of appropriate training provision when they were in less senior roles than at present. We feel they maintained the culture of ignoring the extent of the risk they were exposing its firefighters to until such time as the internal health and safety report and subsequent pressure from the FBU to address these failings left them with no option. If throughout this process of change there is any evidence to support this belief then we feel that individuals should be held accountable.
"It is recommended to the board that Trevor be given the authority to suspend stations that expose the board to the most amount of risk in advance of his proposals to identify criteria to the board on 2nd March.
"The FBU believe that Trevor Johnson has held a senior role within HIFRS for long enough that he has been aware of the training shortfall for some considerable time and has not challenged or addressed it until left with no alternative. The FBU therefore do not feel that the temporary chief fire officer should be given the authority to suspend stations without the approval of the board."
> See today's Courier for more.
