Fire Authority puts lives at risk with their cuts

Devon and Somerset Fire Authority have decided to put pennies before public safety by adopting plans, revealed at the last minute, and not debated upon or put out to consultation, to cut 24 firefighters' jobs from Barnstaple, Exeter and Torquay. The Authority also decided to introduce dual-crewing of all aerial platforms in Devon. This would mean if another large fire broke out like the recent one in Ilfracombe, firefighters would have to choose whether to take an engine OR an aerial platform.

Devon and Somerset Fire Authority have presented the plan as a choice made "between a rock and a hard place". It is true that the Government has cut funds to the Authority, which is symptomatic of this New Labour Government. They would sooner see public funds go to shareholders through privatisation and PFI (Private Finance Initiative, where schools and NHS trusts have to pay extortionate sums to rent premises from private companies) than to frontline public services and the people carrying out those services.

However, the Fire Brigades' Union put forward a 'third way', enabling the Authority to save money while maintaining services. The Fire Authority decided to ignore these proposals, which included reviewing the salary levels of those in senior management positions. Surprisingly, Chief Fire Officer Paul Young (who earns a mere £135,000 a year) didn't support these plans.

As you might imagine, FBU officials, including station representatives and Devon & Somerset Brigade Secretary Trevor French, are furious with the cuts. The Fire Authority has ignored the warnings from firefighters and the overwhelming opposition to the cuts by the public.

Speaking to the Devon Socialist Party website, Barnstaple firefighter and Socialist Party member James Leslie summed up the feelings of firefighters - "There's a lot of anger at the plans, and a feeling that management have let down the public and firefighters". He also pointed out that the Authority had previously rejected the plans to dual-crew aerial platforms due to the risk to the public, "but suddenly they're OK".

Devon Socialist Party remains completely opposed to the cuts, which will put lives at risk. It seems likely that next year the Government will come back and reduce the Fire Authority's grant even further, and also try to introduce more private sector involvement.

We will continue to campaign against the cuts and will support any action the FBU decides upon. Secretary Trevor French is hinting at strike action, which obviously firefighters would be very reluctant to do. However we are facing, not just in fire services but in the NHS, schools and other essential public services, death by a thousand cuts and the increasing involvement of private companies who are interested in profit, not people.

What is needed is united action by public sector unions to fight for 'public services not private profit'. We also need a party that will represent such a campaign politically - a party for workers, for public services, and not a party that represents the needs of big business, as the three main parties do.

Above all we need to replace the system that puts the enrichment of a greedy few before the needs and wants of the many - capitalism. We need to replace that with a system where people have real democratic control over their lives, where they work and society as a whole - socialism.