Received from: FBU
Congress condemns the Tory-led Westminster governments since 2010, which caused terrible damage to our fire and rescue service.
Congress believes that deregulation and austerity over decades contributed to the causes of the Grenfell Tower fire, and that ministers should be held to account.
Congress notes the impacts of 13 years of Tory rule:
i. savage cuts to the fire and rescue service, resulting in the loss of 12,000 firefighters’ jobs
ii. fragmentation of local services and a postcode lottery of response standards
iii. attempts to privatise fire and rescue
iv. exclusion of the FBU from major channels of fire service policymaking
v. real terms pay cuts for firefighters
vi. attacks on collective bargaining and the national joint council.
Congress supports the FBU’s demands:
a. long-term and viable investment in the fire and rescue service
b. national standards of fire and rescue service emergency response
c. a new national statutory structure for fire policy and standards, to include the FBU
d. apply the lessons from the Grenfell Tower disaster
e. ensure dedicated emergency fire controls under fire and rescue service governance
f. a public fire and rescue college to ensure necessary training, research and planning
g. separate governance arrangements for fire and rescue and police services
h. a statutory duty on fire and rescue services to respond to major floods in England, as elsewhere in the UK.
Congress supports the FBU’s autumn campaign of lobbies, rallies and UK-wide action.
Fire Brigades Union