That the Parliament notes with grave concern reports that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has ordered the temporary withdrawal of fire appliances at 10 stations across Scotland - Maryhill, Govan and Cowcaddens in Glasgow, Kingsway East in Dundee, Greenock, Dunfermline, Glenrothes, Methil, Perth and Hamilton; understands that this comes as the service is reportedly having to make £36 million pounds of cuts over the next four years, including £11 million in 2023-24 alone, following what it sees as many years of real terms budget cuts, and a flat cash budget settlement projection over the next four years, as announced in the Scottish Government’s Resource Spending Review 2022; considers that this follows a decade of cuts, with the reported loss of 1,100 firefighter jobs, the closure of five control rooms and a 14% increase in average response times per incident, and supports the Fire Brigades Union’s campaign for investment in the service to end what it sees as the systematic underfunding of Scotland’s Fire and Rescue Service so that communities and businesses across Scotland can be protected and kept safe.
Supported by:
Neil Bibby, Sarah Boyack, Maggie Chapman, Foysol Choudhury, Pam Duncan-Glancy, Mark Griffin, Monica Lennon, Richard Leonard, Carol Mochan, Paul O'Kane, Mark Ruskell, Colin Smyth, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba