55 fire jobs at risk in move to cut costs

Feb 8 2008 by Ben Schofield, Liverpool Daily Post

UP TO 55 firefighters’ jobs may be lost as Merseyside Fire Authority tried to cope with receiving the lowest budget settlement of any in the country.

The chief fire officer said the 2% settlement was “very tough” and the authority admitted one way of plugging a £2.5m budget hole is to shed 55 jobs.

Ministers confirmed last month the authority’s budget will increase by one per cent next year and then by 0.5% for the next two years.

Another option being considered by the service is rolling out more efficiency savings.

But with 80% of the budget going on staff costs, there are few other areas for savings.

It is thought that as 270 staff are set to retire over the next three years, 55 of those may not be replaced.

Tony McGuirk, Merseyside’s chief fire officer, said: “A very tough government grant of 2% over three years means that as well as continuing to find new and innovative ways of making our communities safer and stronger, we will have to make ourselves more efficient.

“Despite a strong case being put forward by the authority, in partnership with the FBU, we have not seen any increase in our grant.”

Councillors on the fire authority have warned the cuts could endanger lives.

Cllr Eddie Clein, leader of the Liberal Democrat group on the authority, said: “How much more can the Government expect us to do? Do they expect us to endanger lives?

“They are saddling us with the responsibility of saving money year after year after year.”

The authority has reduced the number of full time firefighters from 1,430 to 1,050 as part of a drive to save more than £5m.

Cllr Clein claimed of all the firefighter jobs lost nationwide, 50% were on Merseyside.

Les Skarratts, Merseyside FBU branch secretary, urged the authority not to cut more jobs.

He said: “We’ve played our part in this. There’s lots of other areas you could look at.”

Mr Skarratts said the authority could cut down on overtime and open a volunteer fire station in Rainford to save money.

He also suggested between £1m and £2m could be saved in compensation payouts if the job was made safer to avoid litigation suits.

The budget settlement was announced soon after the Audit Commission praised Merseyside firefighters for achieving their lowest death rate in fires since 1958.

Last year nine people died in fires.

The Service has carried out more than 300,000 free home safety checks and fitted 500,000 free smoke alarms and is on track to visit 100,000 homes this year.

The authority will meet to set the 2008/9 budget on February 21.

benschofield