Deregulation and ignored warnings make for “national scandal” asserts FBU

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack has noted that firefighters attending the scene of the Grenfell fire on 14 June 2017 “were forced to work under impossible conditions, lacking appropriate preparation, planning and training”.

The Trade Union cites a number of examples of when its own warnings on building safety and evacuation preparation were “ignored”.

The FBU called for a review of ‘Stay Put’ back in 2007 within a report into a 2005 fire at Harrow Court in Stevenage in which two firefighters and one resident were killed. These warnings were not heeded.

“The Grenfell Tower fire was a crime caused by deregulation and institutional failings at the highest level,” urged Matt Wrack. “By the time of the fire, the residents of the tower had warned on multiple occasions that their building was unsafe. There were various warnings over many years about the dangers of cladding fires, including from the FBU. There had already been fatalities, including at Garnock Court in 1999 and Lakanal House in 2009. It’s a national scandal that our warnings were ignored.”

Wrack continued: “These failings do not rest with front line firefighters. For years, Chief Fire Officers failed to pass on vital knowledge to front line firefighters. Despite obvious warnings, they failed to prepare firefighters for compartmentation breaking down because of flammable cladding.”

Further, he stated: “We must ask why flammable cladding is still wrapped around the homes of hundreds of thousands of people and why there are other significant fire safety failings on many buildings across the country. The Government has not produced proper guidance on how to evacuate a high-rise tower in the middle of a fire, despite having had years to do so. We highlighted this in a letter to the Home Secretary in March this year.”

In addition, Wrack said: “The FBU will not rest until we achieve justice for all victims of the Grenfell fire and until everyone has a safe and decent home.”

Scale of job cuts

New figures obtained by the FBU reveal that 12,000 firefighter posts have been lost to cuts since 2010, leaving the UK without the resilience needed to Guarantee public safety.

One-in-five firefighter jobs (ie 21%) across the UK have been axed in the last 14 years. One-in-three fire Control Room staff, who take emergency calls and mobilise crews, have been cut.

Meanwhile, response times to life-threatening fires have slowed by three minutes, from 6.11 minutes in 1995 to 9.13 minutes in 2023.

In terms of firefighter roles, England has been the worst impacted, with 10,000 jobs cut (22%). In the same period, Scotland lost 1,400 firefighters (18%), Wales lost 500 (13%) and Northern Ireland lost over 200 (12%).

No fewer than 12 Fire and Rescue Services in England have lost 25% or more of their workforce. The worst hit Fire and Rescue Service is Buckinghamshire, which has been cut by over 40%.

The FBU has also found that 4,000 firefighters have both a full-time and an on-call contract, meaning that they will be counted as two firefighters in the data. This ‘double counting’ means that the numbers employed and available at any one time are significantly lower than official figures might otherwise suggest.

“Over a decade of austerity has devastated the Fire and Rescue Service,” suggested Matt Wrack. “Every region has been hit, with 12,000 firefighters lost to cuts across the UK. With flooding, wildfires and storms on the rise as a result of the climate emergency, firefighters are being asked to do more with less. 999 response times are slower than ever before, putting homes and lives at risk.”

Wrack concluded: “In order to protect the public, the Labour Government must invest in the Fire and Rescue Service as a matter of urgency.”