Firefighters are being forced to work out of shoddy stations including a shed, barn and metal container as they prepare for the busiest night of the year.
Now the Scottish Government has been warned that Scotland’s fire stations need a half billion pound upgrade amid a funding freeze for the service. The sub-standard fire stations were outlined to the Scottish Government in a letter from a fire chief, leaked to the Daily Record as the service prepares for bonfire night next weekend.
In a stark warning, the government was told that a £500m programme of investment was urgently needed to make dozens of stations safe. The leaked letter warns that a number of stations for retained and voluntary firefighters (RVDS) were in “poor or bad state”.
In a shocking passage the Scottish Government is told that some stations are “unsuitable for a modern service where stations consist of buildings such as a shed, a farm out building or a metal container.” Firefighters union the FBU have demanded action to improve fire stations across Scotland and confirmed that many buildings were sub-standard.
John McKenzie, Regional Secretary of the Fire Brigades Union in Scotland, said: “Fire stations across Scotland have suffered from decades of sustained underinvestment to the extent that we now have workplaces which fail to provide the standard of basic facilities our members should be able to expect as a given in 2022.
“The SFRS needs sustained increased investment in order to tackle these challenges and firefighters need meaningful investment in their Service, not only to maintain and improve workplace facilities, but also to ensure frontline services are protected and to deal with the sustained real terms erosion of their pay over the last fourteen years.”
The damning letter was sent to the Government by Martin Blunden, the then Chief Officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. As well as the sheds and outbuildings being used, he also hit out at the “lack of dignified facilities” for female firefighters - thought to refer to a lack of changing and toilet facilities for women.
He then sounded the alarm about “contaminants” in the fabric of station buildings and flagged up a type of concrete linked to roofing failures, which would cost £70.5m to replace at 13 stations. He said the average cost of getting stations up to date would be £600,000 per facility, working out at £42.6m across 71 stations. The ex fire chief said the cost for modernising the entire fire service estate would come to £497m.
Months after the bombshell letter was sent to the Government last December, Ministers outlined provisional spending plans that would see the SFRS endure a funding freeze until 2027. The “resource spending review” stated that the funding would remain at £294m.
Last night MSPs demanded an urgent review of Scotland’s fire stations and warned that the safety of firefighters and the public were being put at risk. Labour MSP Katy Clark blasted: “Questions must be asked over why the SNP government has failed to modernise the estate over their 15 years in power.
“It’s time that the Scottish government got to grips with this issue and acted to address these serious concerns.”
Clark added: “This report of what needs to be done to modernise the fire estate is deeply disturbing. The fire service is currently facing savage cuts from the Scottish Government.”
Fire service bosses admitted they faced “challenges” over the state of their buildings.
SFRS Interim Deputy Chief Officer Stuart Stevens said: “The safety and welfare of our staff is paramount and we continue to invest in the repair and maintenance of our buildings to allow us to deliver our service to communities across Scotland. We do face challenges, such as the rising price of utilities and the continuing significant capital backlog to maintain our buildings.
“However, adequate measures are in place to address defects and we continue to monitor these. We will work tirelessly to balance our budget and remain fully committed to protecting our staff and communities from new and emerging risks.”
A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Firefighters play a vital role in protecting our communities and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has continued to deliver the high standard of services required to keep Scotland safe. Effective fire safety remains a priority for the Scottish Government and we have continued our commitment to SFRS with a further increase of £9.5 million in resources for 2022-23 to support modernisation and ensure the service can do more to keep our communities safe.
“This is on top of the £8.7 million increase in 2021-22 and will bring the total Scottish Government investment in SFRS to £352.7 million for 2022-2023.”
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