Fire service been left shortchanged

Swans get on swimmingly

Dear Sir Last week, Stirling MP Stephen Kerr was photographed standing in front of the emergency doors at Stirling Fire and Rescue Station, and criticising the operational decisions of professional firefighters and the deployment of equipment. Yet he supported the Tory Government imposing VAT on Scotland’s fire and rescue and police services (whilst exempting those in England and Wales), pilfering £140 million from Scottish emergency services over four years.

I am assured that fire cover for Stirling and the wider central Scotland area is being achieved by maintaining resilience between and across a number of stations, with Stirling providing and receiving support as required, and that Stirling has at all times a safe and appropriate level of protection for the public.

And while it is fair to say that institutional change being rolled out by the fire and rescue service is challenging the service, this is being appropriately implemented by our professional firefighters, with public safety the paramount consideration at all times – and with a view to maintaining at least 96 per cent of Scotland’s resources available at all times.

In addition, 105 new entrants are currently being trained for the Stirling area, and these new entrants will be fully qualified and available in January 2019, which should resolve current staffing pressures.

However, Tory MP Stephen Kerr displays truly unbelievable hypocrisy in complaining about the resourcing of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service after he and his Tory colleagues imposed VAT on Scotland’s Fire and Rescue and Police services over a four-year period, which robbed them of £35 million per year that should have been training and equipping our firefighters and investing in lifesaving equipment.

If Mr Kerr wants to do something useful for our Fire and Rescue Service, he should stop attacking them and instead join calls for the Tory Government to pay back the £140 million VAT it disgracefully fleeced from Scotland’s emergency services.

SNP Councillor Maureen Bennison Convener of Stirling Council’s Public Safety Committee

This little family of swans are one big happy family. The cygnets on the Teith at Callander are enjoying a swim with their parents. Photo by Dave MacDonald, Callander

In firing line Stephen Kerr at Stirling Fire Station