THE Fire Brigades Union (FBU) accused the London Fire Brigade and the Fire Authority of incompetence and having ‘handed over control of the fire service to hedge fund managers’.
The FBU are demanding the emergency service ‘must be brought back into public ownership under direct local authority control’.
The union condemned the news that AssetCo, the company which owned and controlled all London’s fire engines, has sold them to investment company AB&A in order to help pay its debts.
Assistant General Secretary Andy Dark said: ‘The foolish decision taken in 2001 to hand over the fire engines to AssetCo was opposed by the FBU.
‘At every stage in this hideous saga, I and my colleagues have witnessed an appalling catalogue of failures.
‘This latest episode, which has seen the fleet sold to another company for a reported £2, is a national scandal.
‘London Fire Brigade serves seven million people, and we understand that they were simply notified of the decision.
‘The London Fire Brigade, the Fire Authority, the parent body which is the Greater London Authority and London Mayor Boris Johnson have failed the people of London and the rest of the UK.
‘These are public assets over which the London Fire Brigade and the elected politicians have no control. They must be brought back into public ownership under direct local authority control.
‘The government is encouraging the carving up of the emergency services and it has to end.
‘The fire service is made up of the firefighters and the fire engines which carry the kit.
The London Fire Brigade doesn’t own the fire engines or the kit and has no ability to stop the assets being sold on from firm to firm.
‘National resilience and public safety is being put at risk here.’
Meanwhile, the Fire Brigade has effectively admitted it can’t provide comprehensive protection for Devon and Somerset after a jobs cull.
Devon & Somerset Fire and Rescue Service (DSFRS) has been caught trying to recruit firefighters from among its existing workforce, to work casual shifts on the River Parrett in Bridgwater for about two months from 25 August.
While doing this work, the firefighters will not have the protection of their usual terms and conditions agreement, payments will not be pensionable, they will get no sick pay, and their safety may be compromised, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) says.
The FBU has learned that DSFRS has been trying to persuade its firefighters to take on casual shifts protecting construction works being undertaken on the River Parrett in Bridgwater by Somerset County Council.
They are treating the council as a ‘client’ and asking it to pay for the service.
They want the firefighters to work casual shifts for about two months from 25 August, running a boat required for water rescue while Somerset County Council rebuilds parts of the harbour wall at West Quay, Bridgwater.
While doing this work, the firefighters will not have the protection of their usual terms and conditions agreement, any injury would not be covered by normal pension provision, payments will not be pensionable, they will get no sick pay, and their safety may be compromised, the FBU said.
The alternative plan came to light when a company called Red One Ltd – which is a wholly owned commercial arm of DSFRS – started to try to recruit firefighters from among the DSFRS workforce, and several concerned firefighters showed the emails to the FBU.
The terms of work state: ‘As work is on a casual basis on behalf of a third party, you are not entitled to occupational sick pay whilst carrying out this work.’
They also state: ‘You are not covered by grey book terms and conditions (the agreement which lays down firefighters’ terms and conditions) and any payments are not pensionable.’
Firefighters will not be paid regularly. Instead, ‘Payments will be made in a lump sum in arrears at the end of the work assignment.’
Although they are not protected by their terms of employment, they are required to bring with them the equipment they use in their normal work – their personal issue water rescue boots, gloves and helmet.
Arrangements for safety seem to be entirely down to the individual firefighter.
Tam McFarlane, FBU executive member for the South West and a former Bridgwater firefighter, said: ‘This plan is dangerous, and insulting to professional firefighters, who are being treated like casual labour.
‘Working on water is a highly specialised and dangerous area of work.
‘This is why the Fire Service has become specialised in it.
‘Instead of providing proper professional water rescue cover the Fire Service is hiding behind its private “trading company” wing and trying to introduce casualised, ad hoc arrangements.’
Bob Walker, FBU Chair for Devon and Somerset, said: ‘If this were a totally private company attempting to provide rescue cover via firefighters “working on the side” the Fire Service would condemn it as unsafe and tell them to leave this type of protection to the professionals.
‘The fact that there is some form of Fire Service involvement is a blurring of the lines between a professional public sector emergency service and a casualised private provider.
‘If anything goes wrong with this work, it will be the DSFRS who will be mobilised and have to deal with it by using properly developed standard operating procedures and with the proper resources mobilised at the correct time.
‘The firefighters who may be mobilised to such an incident will be properly covered and protected by hard fought for conditions of service, pension and compensation arrangements.
‘Why should their colleagues being recruited by the fire and rescue service’s commercial arm not have the same protection?’