Tayside Fire & Rescue Board

This morning I attended a meeting of Tayside Fire and Rescue Board. The board looked at a few different issues. On the budget for the next financial year I asked about the assumption that there will be no pay rise for the workforce either operational workers or support staff. I sought some information on whether this had been agreed nationally between the unions and the employers. The unions have not agreed to a pay freeze and this is therefore a risk for the board.

The extensive quarterly activity report highlighted a number of issues for us. I asked about the issue of Bonfire Night, there has been a steady decline in the number of secondary fires occurring on Bonfire Night. I think that this is good news and I hope that this continues over the next few years. It was also good to see that compared with the last time that Bonfire Night had occurred on a Friday (2004) that there was a decline in secondary fires.

The Board also noted the recent ministerial statement on the proposals to reform the governance of the Fire Service in Scotland. I look forward to seeing the consultation on this issue. At this stage I am very comfortable with there being one fire service for Scotland. I think that this needs to be tempered with local control and accountability. I would like to see local accountability and local budgets and priorities set as well as this being part of a national service.