According to the latest figures released by the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) 1,349 London firefighters have lost their job as a result of funding cuts since 2010. Firefighters are being asked to do more with less and after 14 years of austerity, and after more than 12,000 job losses communities are seeing slower response times, fewer home visits, and fewer inspections.
Margaret Mullane MP said: “Over the past two years we have sadly seen just how important it is to have a functioning fire and rescue service. I commend our firefighters following the devastating wildfires of 2022 and the most recent incident in Dagenham, but having spoken to the Havering Borough Commander recently regarding the ongoing situation at Launder’s Lane among other things, I know the pressure that the service is under.”
One-in-five firefighter jobs (22%) in London have been cut since 2010. Fire and rescue services are labour-intensive with three quarters of fire budgets spent on firefighters. Therefore, any cuts to funding inevitably impact on the number of firefighters employed.
The FBU figures also reveal a concerning trend with 4,000 firefighters on “wholetime-retained” contracts, with a full-time position and a retained part-time contract with the same brigade or another service. This method of employment has helped firefighters deal with the pay cuts of the last decade but provides an inflated and inaccurate number of firefighters actually employed due to “double counting” those on two contracts.
Margaret added: “The impact of double counting is very concerning and means that our fire and rescue service is even more depleted than we thought. In the coming months I will be sitting down with FBU reps in the constituency to discuss what a Labour Government can do to address this. I will also be finding out more about how the situation at Launder’s Lane is affecting resources, and how post-2022 wildfire adaptations are helping to protect our communities.”
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