Fire Brigade Union says Richmond cuts are 'obscene'
4:04pm Monday 22nd October 2012 in News By Amy Dyduch
The general secretary of the Fire Brigade Union (FBU) has branded as obscene the potential closures of fire stations across the country, including Richmond.
Richmond fire station could face closure after it was announced London Fire Brigade (LFB) must save £65m in the next two years.
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: "We are told by the coalition government that what they are doing is painful but necessary. They said private sector jobs will fill the gaps create by slashing the public sector ones.
"The reality is proving very different. It costs less than £3billion to run the fire service in this country yet they can hand out three or four times more to a few thousand city workers. I think that is obscene and the sign of a sick society."
A firefighter at Richmond fire station said: "It is not good – if you cut a service how is it going to be as good as it was before?"
Figures from FBU estimated about 1,500 firefighters lost their jobs during the 2011-12 financial year.
Paul Hampton at FBU's head office said: "London hasn't really been affected because of the Olympics, but now the Olympics are over they are facing cuts too."
The Fire Authority has proposed a number of different options in order to make savings to the fire service, including station closures and voluntary redundancies.
A watch manager at Richmond said they would not know about their own future until after Christmas.
He said: "The Fire Authority has put about five or six different plans together to save money. We are as much in the dark as everyone else. These things take a long time."
LFB said it would put forward proposals to the Mayor of London in November and clear decisions on the future of fire stations would be revealed next year.
An LFB spokesman said: "A combination of people within the brigade will collaborate with unions to come up with the proposals to save money and put them forward to the Mayor. No decisions have been made yet – it is all just speculation.
Mr Wrack said: "If Richmond closes it means fire fighters from Twickenham will have to cover that part of the area which means the service is worse because it takes longer to get there."
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Carlg85 says...
3:26pm Tue 23 Oct 12
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