Cuts bring fire service strength to a new low
MORE than 550 jobs have been lost from Devon and Somerset’s fire service in the past ten years, amid a major fall in the number of firefighters across the UK.
A new survey says the reduction in manpower brings the strength of Britain’s fire and rescue services to a new low – and potentially puts lives at risk.
Cuts over the past decade have resulted in the loss of several hundred firefighters in the Devon and Somerset area.
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said one in five roles have been lost since the beginning of austerity in 2010 across the UK, reducing by 11,680.
London has 1,112 fewer firefighters than in 2010, with falls of 615 in West Yorkshire, 631 in Greater Manchester, 551 in Devon and Somerset and 470 in the West Midlands, said the union.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “After years of huge government cuts and staffing falls there is a real threat that fire and rescue services may not be able to deal with every incident and fight all fires.
“For example, we have heard senior service managers state that the public should lower their expectations that large wildfires can be tackled. The cuts are weakening the day-to-day work of the fire and rescue service in every single area; they are making people less safe.
“They also pose a threat to the ability to respond to large-scale incidents particularly if more than one were to occur at the same time.
“Households deserve to feel protected. We all want to be able to walk past fire stations and know that there are enough people in there to protect us.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “Firefighters work tirelessly every day to protect our communities and the Government has consistently given them the resources they need to keep people safe. In the last year, nearly 3,000 new firefighters have been recruited across the country and the Government has invested £2.3 billion to support their lifesaving work.”
The FBU said responses from Freedom of Information requests showed that since 2010 more than 8,000 wholetime firefighters’ jobs have gone, out of the 11,680 total.
The FBU added that response times across all types of fires in England have increased since 2010, while fire audit and home fire safety checks have fallen.