Firefighters' strike threat over control room cuts

The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said the 32 South Yorkshire operators play a "vital role" in making sure firefighters get to emergencies with the correct equipment.

The union has given South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue (SYFR) until January 6 to withdraw the proposed cuts otherwise it will ballot for industrial action.

Neil Carbutt, FBU secretary in South Yorkshire, said the plan to lose eight operators showed a "callous disregard for public and firefigher safety."

He said: "Control operators play a vital role in our emergency response by making sure firefighters get to emergencies with the correct equipment and information.

"Slashing the number of operators will drastically impact the response of the whole service.

“Firefighters and control staff have done their best to adapt to fire service austerity over the past few years, but enough is enough. If these proposals go through the public will receive a much worse service.

“We have been left no option but to register a trade dispute, as fire and rescue service managers have shown a callous disregard for public and firefighter safety by backing proposals that would put people living in South Yorkshire at greater risk.”

The union has also asked SYFR for assurances on changes to how staffing schedules and leave is assigned.

A spokesman for South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue said the number of emergency calls it has received has almost halved in the last ten years.

He said the drop in the number of emergency calls handled  from 23,217 in 2004/05 to 12,336 in 2013/14  and a "big reduction in funding" had led to the service to make a number of cutbacks.

He said: "We have already reduced the number of managers, back office staff and non-pay budgets but must now look at other areas, including control, to help protect the number of fire engines available to respond to 999 calls.

"Other, comparable fire services have similar numbers of control staff with no impact to their service to the public."