Submitted by SWFBU on
Fire Brigades Union press release
Monday 15th June 2015
For Immediate Release
FIRE BRIGADES UNION SAY £5k A DAY COST OF EMPTY FIRE CONTROL BUILDINGS AS BUDGETS ARE CUT IS GROSS HYPOCRISY
South West Fire Brigades Union (FBU) Officials have slammed the continued waste of £1.9 million of tax payers’ money on the empty regional fire control building in Taunton.
The failed project, established by the Labour Government in 2004, has left an empty building in Taunton while national fire and rescue services are undergoing the most drastic cuts ever made.
The FBU warned from day one that the project would not work but the Government pressed on and wasted millions of pounds of tax payers money in the process. The most visible sign of this failure is the empty building, built at huge cost and very high spec, which has lain empty for years.
Tam McFarlane, of the FBU in the South West, told BBC Somerset this morning: "The continued waste of thousands of pounds a day on an empty building, whilst fire and rescue service budgets are slashed and jobs are cut, is nothing short of a national disgrace.
“In 2013 budget cuts led to full time fire cover at Taunton fire station being cut in half, whilst just down the road the Government was pouring almost two million pounds a year into an empty, unused building.
"Firefighters and tax payers need to see this waste come to an end and somebody held to account. This disgrace has continued over three separate Governments, each of which has tried to ignore the problem.
“How dare politicians impose budget cuts on frontline services in the name of "austerity" whilst pouring tax payers money down the drain due to their own, failed, projects?"
Ends
For more information, contact the press office on 02084 811 505 (will divert) or press@fbu.org.uk.
BBC POINTS WEST - Monday 15th May
Notes
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2. For local and regional spokespeople, please contact officials directly via the ‘About us’ and ‘Local contacts’ menus at www.fbu.org.uk
3. High res photos of spokespeople and other images that may be useful editorially are available at http://bit.ly/FBUphoto
