The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has won a reversal of £2m of cuts to the fire service in Nottingham. The cuts, announced in autumn 2022, would have seen West Bridgford fire station closed at night. London Road and Stockhill stations would also have lost firefighters and fire appliances.
The U-turn will be confirmed at a meeting of the local fire authority on Friday 24 February. FBU spokespeople will be available for comment prior to the start of the meeting (see notes for details).
The victory follows a sustained campaign of lobbying by the FBU. On 23 September 2022, members of the union attended a meeting of the Combined Fire Authority, which is chaired by Cllr Michael Payne. They called for the proposals to be shelved and called for the authority and the chief fire officer to join with members of the union in calling for greater investment. Disappointingly, the fire authority railroaded the proposals through with only a few notable objectors voting against.
Immediately after the conclusion of the meeting, members of the FBU, alongside Cllr Steve Battlemuch, began to mobilise more widely, with firefighters and supporters having a presence on the streets of Nottinghamshire campaigning against the proposed cuts.
The FBU also made the case for further investment in Westminster, demanding that the government increase funding to protect frontline services. The lobbying effort concluded with a meeting attended by MPs from across the county, alongside the FBU leadership, union members, the chief fire officer and the chair of the authority.
It has now been confirmed that the cuts will not take place.
Ben Selby, Assistant General Secretary elect of the Fire Brigades Union said: “This is a fantastic result for the people of Nottinghamshire. These cuts would have inevitably increased fire service response times, putting the lives of those that live and work in the affected areas at an increased risk.
“Since 2010, budgets have been attacked by central governments, with fire authorities doing little to protect their communities from cuts that can cost lives.
“This result is testament to the tireless work of members and officials of the FBU in Nottinghamshire. They knew what losing these services would mean for their communities, and fought to save them with everything they had.
“When many policy-makers and onlookers doubted that our members could secure additional funding, they ignored them and cracked on with their campaign. They should be immensely proud of the result.”
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