Dumbarton constituency MSP Jackie Baillie, with Fire Brigades Union reps in the Scottish Parliament.
By Bill Heaney
MSP Jackie Baillie has backed the firefighters’ union in their efforts to stall “dangerous” cuts.
The politician signed up to the Fire Brigades Union’s letter to First Minister, John Swinney – endorsed by cross-party MSPs – whose communities are at the centre of planned service revisions.
The document points to budget cuts and sustained under-investment in the service by the SNP Government, as well as rising response times.
It also calls on the SNP Government to reject proposals which will “further increase response times, increase risk to our communities and pose a greater threat to residents, their homes, businesses and the environment”.
The move comes ahead of the closure of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s public consultation on planned cuts, on September 16th.
The SFRS has proposed a raft of cuts as part of their planned Service Delivery Review.
In Helensburgh, if the proposals contained in the review go ahead, the South King Street site will switch to a Day Crewing model.
It will see Helensburgh Fire Station switch to on-call only, between the hours of 6pm and 8am.
A wholetime crew will be located at the station daily between 8am and 10pm only.
Currently the station operates with a full-time crew of 5 firefighters in a state of operational readiness to respond immediately.
They are supported by an on-call appliance, crewed by 10 personnel carrying a pager, who respond to incidents.
The second on call appliance would remain unchanged.
Jackie has been working in partnership with local firefighters to campaign against the proposals, including co-ordinating a petition opposing the cuts.
She also raised the issue in the Holyrood chamber and met with FBU chiefs in Parliament last week.
Dumbarton MSP, Jackie, said: “I have heard first hand from firefighters about the SNP’s dangerous plan to downgrade Helensburgh Fire Station.
“This plan will increase response times and put our communities at greater risk.
“It is important that the SNP Scottish Government, which has under-funded our emergency services for years, sit up and realise the damage this plan could do.
“I urge the SNP Government to heed these warnings before the damage is done in our communities.”