Fire Service — There are plans to remove the 24 hour rescue boat on the River Clyde.
By Lucy Ashton
The Scottish Government must come forward with an emergency plan to save our fire and rescue service after a decade of cuts, Scottish Labour has said today.
The call comes as the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) gear up to hold a mass rally in George Square next Thursday to protest the latest savings made by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS).
As part of a £11 million package of cuts, second or third appliances are being withdrawn from ten stations across Scotland from next month.
There are also plans to remove the 24 hour permanently crewed rescue boat on the River Clyde.
Almost 1,100 firefighter jobs have been lost over the past decade. Meanwhile, Scottish Labour research has found nearly half of all stations in the country are assessed as being in “bad” or “poor” condition.
Katy Clark, pictured left, Scottish Labour spokesperson for Community Safety, said: “A decade of cuts has hollowed out our fire service, with response times worsening, stations in disrepair and hundreds of jobs lost.
“The combination of withdrawn appliances, under-staffing and a dilapidated estate means firefighters, who put their lives on the line and are already exposed to dangerous fire contaminants in their job, are being put seriously at risk. Ultimately, that also puts our communities at risk, with response time per incident increasing by 14 per cent in the past ten years.
“Scottish Labour’s message is that enough is enough. These latest cuts should be revoked and the Scottish Government must come forward with an emergency plan to save our fire service.”