Council Leader speaks out against more job losses following Dumfries Fire Control Room closure confirmation
Council Leader Ronnie Nicholson delivered a strong message following a meeting with Fire Chiefs today.
Pat Watters (Chair of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service) and Alasdair Hay (Chief Fire Officer) met with the Council Leader today (Friday 15 August) to deliver the blow that the local Dumfries and Galloway Fire and Rescue control centre is to close on 17November, which we see the loss of 16 posts.
It was also confirmed that the vehicle maintenance for fire service vehicles in the region is no longer being carried out by Dumfries and Galloway council- and has been transferred to Cumbernauld.
Mr Watters and Mr Hay refused a request by the Council to enter into discussions about the possibility of any alternative Fire and Rescue Service posts being located in Dumfries and Galloway, prompting criticism from the Council Leader of the continuing centralisation of services and jobs.
The loss of 16 posts at the Fire control room comes on top of the 34 posts lost in the region following the closure of the Police Control room in Dumfries.
Ronnie Nicholson said “Last year, I had a meeting with the Chief Fire Officer and the Chair of the Fire Board. At this meeting, I made it very clear that the Council wished to be engaged and consulted on any proposal related to the closure of the local fire service control room. This was agreed by everyone at that meeting”.
“However, Pat Watters and Alasdair Hay have now made clear that they have no intention of consulting with the council on the issue and the closure of the Fire Control room will go ahead with no discussion”.
“It’s all very well for the Fire Service to say they will seek to re-deploy staff affected but the overall number of posts in the region is being slashed and they are refusing to have any discussions with the council about any future jobs coming to Dumfries and Galloway”.
“It’s is ironic that the Scottish Government Minister comes to Dumfries to announce 6 jobs being created one day but fails to mention that the next day 16 fire service jobs will be axed in the area”.
“We also now have the situation that fire service vehicles in the region will no longer be maintained in Dumfries. That’s not only a loss of business for the council and local staff but we will now have the ridiculous situation that vehicles will have to go on a 200 mile round trip to Cumbernauld to be serviced”.
“The men and women who work locally in the Fire and Rescue Service do a fantastic job but sadly they are being badly let down by their chiefs nationally who are intent on centralising as many jobs as possible. A national Fire and Rescue Service should mean that support jobs are shared across Scotland but that isn’t happening. We therefore don’t have a national Fire and Rescue Service. We have one being run for the benefit of the central belt and the north of Scotland and once again Dumfries and Galloway is the forgotten region”.
