Thursday, September 26, 2013

Fire board to consider closure plans

25 September 2013 Last updated at 23:12 GMT Firefighters The fire board will be asked to back the closure of local control rooms The Scottish Fire and Rescue Board is to be asked to back plans which would see the closure of five control rooms.

Centres would be retained at Johnstone in Renfrewshire, Dundee and - initially - in Edinburgh.

The plan involves the closure of control rooms in Inverness, Aberdeen, Thornton in Fife, Maddiston near Falkirk, and Dumfries.

The Scottish government said the details of the plan were a "matter for the board".

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It is recognised that property rationalisation will have a significant impact on employees”

End Quote Fire board strategy paper The strategy being put to the board later would also include a single national training centre at Cambuslang, and the identification of a national headquarters building "located in the area bounded by Perth, Glasgow and Edinburgh".

The fire service would dispose of the Scottish Fire Service College at Gullane in East Lothian, and property at Maddiston and Thornton.

Property would also be released at Cowcaddens in Glasgow and North Anderson Drive in Aberdeen, although fire stations would be retained at both sites.

Also surplus to requirements would be Lauriston Place in Edinburgh, although "steps will be taken to ensure continued public access to heritage assets in Edinburgh".

The paper being presented to the fire board estimates that not pursuing a programme of property rationalisation and investment would involve continuing costs of £4.7m per year, equivalent to 162 firefighter posts.

It says that "dialogue will be maintained at all levels with the Scottish government" to ensure that permission is granted for money raised by disposal of surplus properties to be re-invested.

'Detailed analysis'

The paper states: "It is recognised that property rationalisation will have a significant impact on employees and throughout the process detailed analysis has been undertaken to understand the nature and extent of this."

In advance of the board meeting, the Scottish government confirmed it had been informed of the strategy.

A spokeswoman said: "We are aware of proposals to be discussed by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Board. However the detail of these is an operational matter for the board.

"The board is committed to the Scottish government's policy of no compulsory redundancies."

Fire Brigades Union's Scottish chairman Alan Paterson said: "We will start to consult with our members on the detail once we have time to digest it and then both sides can get back into some meaningful discussions and negotiations with service managers.

"On any proposals, when it comes to the details, it's very difficult to measure of what degree the risk is."


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