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FIRE & rescue service bosses were accused today of trying to “sneak through brutal cuts under the cover of the coronavirus crisis.”
The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said that employers and politicians are rushing through cuts that will reduce firefighter and appliance numbers and create a “major threat to public safety.”
A consultation on sweeping fire & rescue cuts is being launched by employers in the middle of the pandemic crisis, the union said.
Firefighters have taken on sweeping new duties during the coronavirus pandemic.
These include moving dead bodies, driving ambulances, and producing protective wear at the request of the government and the National Fire Chiefs’ Council.
Despite this, cuts are being cynically forced through, the FBU said. The union cited East Sussex’s Conservative-controlled fire authority, which is launching a public consultation on more cuts based on a plan drawn up before the coronavirus outbreak. The proposals include major cuts to the number of fire engines, staffing levels, and night-time fire cover.
The FBU says 10 fire engines in the county, at Battle, Bexhill, Crowborough, Lewes, Newhaven, Rye, Uckfield, Seaford, Heathfield and Wadhurst stations will be axed, and dedicated crews for high-reaching aerial fire appliances will be reduced, along with other staff.
East Sussex firefighter and FBU brigade chairman Simon Herbert said: “Firefighters are out on the front line helping our communities through this crisis while still responding to fires and other emergencies.
“Meanwhile our fire authority has thanked us by beginning the process of decimating our emergency-response capabilities and ability to save lives — all from the safety of their living rooms.
“These proposals are dangerous and will seriously damage the availability of fire crews throughout East Sussex.”
FBU general secretary Matt Wrack said: “The Prime Minister and other government ministers are asking people to clap for front-line workers on a Thursday while their policies continue gutting front-line services. It’s shameless hypocrisy.
“While firefighters are taking on sweeping new areas of work to keep their communities safe, they have been completely betrayed by fire chiefs and politicians.
“This could be the first of many attempts to sneak through cuts to services while the public focuses on the pandemic.
“If politicians think they are going to make public services pay for this crisis, then they are sadly mistaken.”
East Sussex Fire & Rescue Service said work on the plan and for the public consultation has been underway for around 18 months and the suggestion that it has been “sneaked through” under the cover of the pandemic is simply untrue.