Submitted by SWFBU on
TO: ALL MEMBERS
Dear Brother/Sister
OUT SOON - NEW FBU REPORT - SOUNDING THE ALARM: THE FUTURE OF OUR FIRE AND RESCUE SERVICE
All FBU members are well aware of the huge scale of attacks on our Service over the past few years. We have never seen cuts to funding on the scale we have seen since the 2010 General Election. In turn we have never before experienced the level of job cuts, station closures or cutting of the number of fire engines.
Over the past two years, the Executive Council has been discussing how the union can develop strategies for the longer-term to defend our Service, our profession and our conditions of service. There are various aspects to these discussions:
• The approach of the 2015 General Election – how can we push Fire and Rescue Service issues up the political agenda;
• How we might make particular interventions in marginal constituencies in the run-up to the election;
• Discussions with the Fire Service Employers on the work firefighters currently undertake – within or outside the role maps; and
• Discussion at our own Conference on the future of our Service, including the potential for new areas of work and activity.
As part of this work Head Office has undertaken or commissioned a great deal of research over the past few months. This has included research on:
• Jobs and job losses.
• Fire station closures.
• Emergency response times.
• Cost and expenditure on the Fire and Rescue Service across the UK.
Arising from this work, the union has produced a new report: Sounding the Alarm: the Future of our Fire and Rescue Service. This report draws together this research and sets out our concerns for the future if the current levels of cuts and fragmentation are allowed to continue.
The report has been produced in two versions. A full version will be sent to each Branch as well as to politicians, Fire and Rescue Services, researchers and journalists. A summary version will be sent to all members at home and additional copies will be available for local campaigning. There will also be a flyer/leaflet for the public which draws attention to the key issues in the report. This will also be available for local campaigning.
Please take the time to read the report and to discuss it with colleagues. It does not set out all the answers and there are many issues which will need to be debated in detail through our union structures. However, we hope it will enable our members to be well informed and armed with the latest information on the state of our Service and profession. This will be part of a strategy aimed at defending ourselves and our Service in the coming period.
Best wishes
MATT WRACK
GENERAL SECRETARY
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