News

Independent reports into North Wales and Mid and West Wales fire and rescue services have revealed the extent of failures in senior management. Mid and West Wales service was described as a ‘boys club’, with nearly half of survey respondents reporting personal experiences with bullying and...

Gloucestershire firefighters are fighting back against changes to their working hours forced through by the county council. The changes voted through on 4 December would see shifts changed from 9-hour days and 15-hour nights to 11-hour days and 13-hour nights for wholetime community fire stations...

Firefighters in Staffordshire have launched a public petition in the fight back against a dangerous policy allowing retained firefighters to attend incidents as a team of three. The service has pushed ahead with the policy despite 130 firefighters involved in the trial signing a letter in opposition...

Fire and rescue services in England face a real term cut to central government funding, with a below inflation increase of 1.4% this year. The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government publishes the amount of funding local authorities receive annually, which includes funds for fire and...

A new report into the cladding crisis has confirmed worst fears about the number of buildings which still have unsafe cladding seven years on from the Grenfell Tower fire. An investigation by the National Audit Office found an estimated total of 9,000-12,000 buildings of 11 metres or higher with...

In the week following the removal of one of the 24-hour crewed fire engines at Poole in Dorset, retained firefighters at the station were called out to 15 incidents – five times the number predicted by the service. Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service removed Poole’s second wholetime...

Firefighters from across Europe met in London for the annual European Federation of Public Services Union (EPSU) Firefighters’ Network on 2 and 3 December. The event took place in TUC Congress house. Delegates discussed issues affecting their fire services and agreed a working plan for the network...

Gloucestershire fire and rescue service has published findings of an independent review into allegations of racism and bullying in the service between 1991 and 2018. After speaking to current and previous staff members and analysing more than 4,500 documents, the review found the service had been...

FBU general secretary Matt Wrack wrote to fire service employers on 6 December to ask for immediate talks on pay for firefighters and fire control staff. The next pay round is due to take effect on 1 July 2025, and the union is keen that a deal is reached in time for any increase to be paid...

Firefighters called for better maternity pay at a rally outside a meeting of the South Yorkshire Fire Authority in September. The union’s Fight for 52 weeks campaign has resulted in several services increasing maternity provision to 12 months of full pay. However, South Yorkshire currently lags...