Fire brigade Plan to reduce crew numbers delayed
COUNCILLORS have pushed back controversial plans to cut firefighters by reducing crewing levels despite warnings it could lead to redundancies and worse cuts in the long run.
Avon Fire and Rescue Service (AFRS) chiefs proposed sending fire engines to emergencies with just four personnel instead of the current five to save money and balance the books, with the organisation facing a £4 million black hole over the next four years.
But the cross-party fire authority committee delayed introducing the idea for a year as it passed the organisation’s annual budget for 2024/25.
The original plan was to slash the number of full-time firefighters by 40 but a successful campaign by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU), which said the cuts presented a danger to firefighters and the public, prompted a rethink.
However, when finance bosses presented the budget papers to members the crewing levels proposal remained the preferred option.
They urged councillors to go ahead with the reductions from this April, which would have been made gradually through retirements and not redundancies.
Instead, the committee voted in favour of an alternative proposed by Bristol’s Conservatives and backed by Labour to defer the changes by 12 months and make up a £500,000 shortfall in the coming financial year by increasing borrowing.
AFRS statutory finance officer Verity Lee told last Wednesday’s meeting she did not recommend this option because it compressed the timeframe the service would need to find £4 million of new savings from four years to three, including £1.4 million in 2025/26, which was “a lot harder for us to do”.
She said the one-year delay in cutting crew sizes meant maintaining the current number of firefighters in 2024/25, when between nine and 13 retirements were expected.
Ms Lee said that if permanent fulltime staff were hired to replace them and then the crewing level reductions began the following year, this could lead to redundancies.
But FBU South West regional secretary Dave Roberts told the meeting it gave the service time to explore other ways of balancing the budget and lobbying the government for fairer funding.
He said: “It is essential to avoid situations that could motivate pressurised firefighters to act unsafely in the interests of saving lives.
“Avon Fire Authority needs to step back from the brink and source additional funding from the government to ensure the safety of the public that we serve.
“Downgrading the establishment now and in the future would be a race to the bottom that would put lives on the line.”
Bristol Labour Cllr Philippa Hulme said: “I know there have been tests to show that the four-member crew is as safe as a five-member crew and I’m sure they were done rigorously but in real emergency situations I really find it hard to think that what we’re calling efficiency savings are people – they’re fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, daughters.
“I really want to spend another year trying everything we possibly can to get some more money and to take that risk of assuming that will be successful before we go down the road of cutting the number of crews.”
Bristol Labour Cllr Paul Goggin said: “We have to postpone, we have to find other cuts because we can’t put firefighters’ safety and the public’s safety at risk just for the sake of cash.”
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We have to postpone, we have to find other cuts because we can’t put firefighters’ safety and the public’s safety at risk just for the sake of cash
Cllr Paul Goggin