Firefighters' discontent 'alarming'

A poll of 2,000 members of the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) revealed that most feared insufficient or inadequate training was compromising their safety.

A majority said they did not feel the government values them, while the firefighters again criticised plans to close all 46 emergency fire control rooms in England and replace them with eight outside London.

The FBU said the survey showed firefighters believed the move make the fire and rescue service respond less well to incidents, and make staff less safe.

Most of those questioned said they had no confidence in the Government's ability to create a national network of regional fire controls which would work well.

Asked what were the four best ways of spending money on improving the fire and rescue service, almost nine out of 10 said more training, almost three quarters said more frontline personnel, and six out of 10 said modern and safe personal radios. Just one in 33 suggested moving to regional control centres.

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: "This is the authentic voice of the men and women who save lives every day, and it is telling the Government, not just to change course, but to change its whole approach.

"They want resources to go into frontline personnel, training and equipment to do the job, which are being cut, not into extravagant and untried mammoth computer systems and the army of consultants required to explain why they do not work properly."

Newly appointed Fire Minister Sadiq Khan said: "Firefighters do a great and difficult job which is why they need to know the Government is on their side. I am looking forward to meeting with FBU leaders later this week to discuss these issues and explain how strongly we value our firefighters and their safety which is demonstrated through our investment in new frontline equipment and training.

"We have provided £400 million investment for new fire stations, equipment and training facilities, as well as £15 million in the Fire Service College to provide state of the art training. We also invest in fire safety measures such as £25 million for free smoke alarms and home fire safety checks, which are one of the reasons that fire deaths are now at an all-time low and firefighter deaths remain very low."