Fire dispute widens to job cuts

The scale of fire service job losses and service cuts implied by the "modernisation" agenda emerged last month as one of the central issues in the fire dispute.

The employers' were seeking natural wastage reductions of about 2% a year over the next four years. The FBU said this would mean the loss of almost 5,000 jobs.

On the eve of the firefighters' 24-hour strike on 21 January, deputy prime minister John Prescott accused the union of making "exaggerated and misleading statements about the number of job cuts and fire station closures implied by Bain".

At the same time, the government is pushing ahead with plans to repeal section 19 of the 1947 Fire Services Act, via the Local Government Bill. This requires the approval of the secretary of state for changes in local fire service "establishments", and the move is seen by the FBU as paving the way for cuts in the service.

The FBU was, therefore, delighted when the Scottish Parliament narrowly rejected a move on these lines on 8 January.

This was followed by a commitment by the Scottish Executive that any proposals affecting the future of the fire service in Scotland, including legislative reform, would be the subject of consultation with the FBU.