Although the Heads of Agreement details all the main parameters of the proposed scheme the major problems are still the contribution increases and the normal pension age.

Undoubtedly there are other issues of concern such as accrual rates, revaluation rates and commutation factors but we feel that the logical position is to pursue a workable NPA as a priority. Other issues are largely dependent on a scheme being affordable and having a workable and realistic NPA.

For this reason we have focused our response on the biggest sticking points namely the contribution increases and the normal pension age rather than comment on each particular paragraph of the document.

However we did challenge other issues specifically;

1. The inconsistent way that the 10 year protection is being applied to the 1992 Firefighters’ Pension Scheme: in contrast with other public sector schemes not all members within 10 years of their expected pension age are protected.
2. The lack of progress in the eligibility for fire control member joining a fire service pension scheme.
3. Requesting a reassurance around the implementation of the RDS modified scheme.

We have meetings arranged with civil servants and will keep members informed of any progress.

http://www.fburegion6.co.uk/pensioncalc/index.html

Seven trade unions are challenging the Government in the Court of Appeal on Monday 20th February over changes to the way pensions are uprated, leaving public and private sector pensioners worse off. The appeal is against a High Court ruling last year which said the Governments’ switch from the Retail Price Index (RPI) to the usually-lower Consumer Price Index (CPI) for increasing pensions was lawful.

A judicial review by the unions challenged the switch to CPI, which was announced in the June 2010 budget, without any consultation or negotiation. Chancellor George Osborne claimed CPI was the more appropriate measure. But the unions have always said it was a deficit reduction measure and therefore unlawful under social security legislation which does not allow for national economic considerations to be used when deciding which is the best practicable estimate of the increase in prices.

While all three High Court judges agreed with the unions that deficit reduction was the motivation for the switch, two of them said the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions was within his rights to take into account public finances.

The move is expected to cut the value of pension benefits by 15% over time.

The seven unions are the Fire Brigades’ Union, Teachers’ union NASUWT, Prison Officers Association, Public and Commercial Services union, CWU, UNISON and Unite.

Matt Wrack, FBU General Secretary said: “Public sector employees are being forced to bear the burden of the financial crisis brought on by the actions of the banks. The Chancellor was motivated by deficit reduction measures sparked by that crisis when he made the switch.

“We will not allow this unfair and, in our view, unlawful breach of the contracts of millions of workers to rest. This case applies to private sector pensioners who are also losing out because of a switch in the way price rises are measured and applied to their pensions.”

***ENDS***

Media contacts 0208 541 1765 or 07736 818100

Devon and Somerset fire crews facing a third year of a pay freeze say they are ‘gobsmacked’ that fire authority councillors voted themselves a 25% increase in allowances. The move came at the same fire authority meeting which cut the fire service response to domestic fire alarms….to save money.

The councillors were evenly split on whether to vote through the 25% increase in allowances with many of them speaking out against the move. It only went through on the casting vote of the chair.

Bob Walker FBU Devon and Somerset brigade chair said: “We’re supportive of the fire authority’s decision to back a small increase in the council tax which goes to protecting frontline services. But to then cut our response to domestic fire alarms and vote through a 25% increase in their own allowances beggar’s belief.

“Local fire crews are facing the third year of a pay freeze and then another two years when we could get 1% in each year. It will cause a lot of anger and resentment and flies in the face of the commonsense approach taken to the small increase in the council tax which goes to the 999 emergency response.

“It was clear that many councillors were very uncomfortable about the allowance increase and opposed it for good reason. It has overshadowed the good and brave decision taken on the overall budget.

“I’d be surprised if there were not a public backlash over the allowances. I can assure people their local fire crews will not see a penny of it, it’s only for the councillors.”

***ENDS***

Media contacts

Bob walker 07855475603
Trevor French 07967018757

The Fire Brigades Union in Berkshire has strongly condemned the decision taken by Royal Berkshire Fire Authority (RBFA) to accept the Governments ‘one off’ Council Tax Freeze Grant rather than increase the council tax precept.

At its Budget setting meeting on 15^th February 2012 members of the Fire Authority voted in favour of accepting the Council Tax Freeze Grant instead of opting for a modest increase of just 3.5% to its share of the council tax. That rise would have equated to just £1.95 for a band D household and given Royal Berkshire Fire and Rescue Service (RBFRS) a stable financial footing for the future.

Without this much needed money being placed in the Fire Authority’s base budget, there is now the potential for further cuts. Efficiency savings are already hitting RBFRS hard and the future has become even bleaker. This can only affect the performance of the brigade, which is already failing in certain areas.

Maurice Whyte, Berkshire FBU Brigade Chair, said ‘In deciding not to raise the precept, the Fire Authority has missed the opportunity to put vital funds into its base budget. The people of Berkshire now face potential cutbacks and may not get the service that they deserve in future years. Put simply, the Fire Authority has baulked at making the right decision at the right time and this is something we shall pay for later in terms of an efficient and effective fire service.’

At the same meeting the Fire Authority decided to re-engage the Chief Fire Officer, Iain Cox, when he eventually retires. The Fire Brigades Union welcomes this decision as it will give RBFRS continuity in a tumultuous period of financial uncertainty and unprecedented cuts in public funding.

Mark Stollery, Berkshire FBU Brigade Secretary, said ‘This is a good decision and one that will give much needed stability to Berkshire at a time of upheaval in the fire service.’ He added, ‘We have worked closely with Chief Fire Officer Cox in previous years and whilst we don’t always agree we have established a good relationship with him.  We look forward to building on this relationship and ensuring that firefighters work in safe conditions to deliver a first class service to the residents of Berkshire.’

***ENDS***

Press contacts:

Mark Stollery – Brigade Secretary – 07917 065868

Maurice Whyte – Brigade Chair – 07917 065867

Cumbria Fire Brigades Union say their campaign to save Cumbria’s only 999 fire control centre will go to Westminster after the County Council refused to budge at a full council meeting. A 3,300 signature petition opposing the move was presented to the chair of the council and a further 17,000 signature petition handed to Tim Farron MP.

A delegation of FBU members attended the meeting. Morven Anson, FBU control branch chair, made an impassioned speech “from the heart” which was applauded from the public gallery and drew support from numerous councillors.

Cumbria County Councillors Strong and Bleasdale, both Directors of the North West Fire Control Ltd, spoke in support of the move. The company is a local authority controlled company and both are nominated by the County Council to sit on the board.

The council plans to shut its control room in June with the loss of 12 control posts. They plan to move the work to Cheshire fire service’s fire control until 2014 as part of a two-stage move to a regional control centre.

Cumbria FBU brigade secretary Adrian Kevern said: “The county council has still not thought through what it is doing.

They are ignoring the first stage of the move to Cheshire which is imminent and are concentrating only on the second stage move to the regional control.

“Both are fraught with difficulties and risks and to ignore the first step –lasting at least 2 years – is just not acceptable.

This is the imminent closure of the only 999 emergency fire control centre in Cumbria that fire crews and the public rely on to keep them safe.

“We need proper public scrutiny and consultation, and this has still not happened in Cumbria. We made powerful arguments which are being ignored by the council and we are now taking our concerns to Westminster.

“It took 9 years before politicians accepted our concerns over the original plans to move to a regional control. That disaster cost over £500 million of taxpayers’ money and the council are trying to breathe life back into those plans.

“The county council is committing council tax payer’s money to a two-stage move they do not appear to fully understand. You’re not going to deliver a better fire service for Cumbria from a remote centre in Cheshire and the quicker they understand that the better.”

***ENDS***

Ade Kevern (Cumbria) Mob:- 07967570362

This bulletin has been sent to members’ home addresses and to fire stations.

The FBU is holding a three-week consultation on the proposals – please see your local FBU representatives for details of meetings in your brigade and region.

Dorset fire crews have hit out at the fire authority for ditching plans to raise 4.2p a week in council tax for the local fire service. The fire authority voted down the plans by 7 votes to 5 making cuts to frontline services inevitable.

The seven councillors voted against the proposal to increase council tax by £2.16 a year – 4.2p a week for band D households which was backed by the budget group, the community risk group, the chief officer and the chair of the fire authority. Instead they backed a council tax freeze for the fire service which will no longer ensure that frontline services are protected.

Karen Adams, FBU Dorset brigade secretary said: “We’re angry that these seven councillors went against all the professional advice they were being given. It beggars belief that they think the public would trade 4.2p a week for every household for cuts which will increase risk to life across the county.

“There are no more efficiencies to make, this is a slash and burn approach these councillors have taken. The chief officer is left with no alternative than to look to make savings from frontline cuts which he was trying to avoid at all costs.

“The local fire crews have made sacrifices and we’re facing the third year of a pay freeze with another 2 years of no more than 1% a year. With what we’re going through to protect local fire services this feels like a kick in the teeth.

“These will be real cuts and you don’t get more frontline than the 999 emergency service. The pre-election promises about protecting vital frontline services are now in the gutter.

“Keeping a first class fire service for the people of Dorset was in the gift of the fire authority. Instead they have decided that the price of a life is not worth 4.2 pence per week.”

***ENDS****

Media contact

 Karen Adams 07917065873

Cumbria Fire Brigades Union are to present a public petition to a full county council meeting in Kendal on 16 February. The union is also calling for full public consultation over plans to axe the county’s only fire control room.

Of the 20,000 total signatures on the petition, over 3,000 will be presented to the council on Thursday, more than enough to trigger a full debate. The balance will be presented nationally at Westminster at a later date.

A small delegation of FBU members will attend and they will make a short presentation to the meeting.

The council plans to shut its control room in June with the loss of 12 control posts. They plan to move the work to Cheshire fire service’s fire control until 2014.

Staff were only given a week’s notice before the axe plan was put to the Cabinet last year. It was a bolt from the blue as the staff had agreed in December 2010 to the loss of three posts, down to 12, to keep the Cumbria control safe in the aftermath of the collapse of the FireControl Project.

The County Council failed to bid for £1.8 million of central Government funding to upgrade their existing control.

There was no consultation prior to the decision being made, no debate by the full fire authority, and the public and press were excluded when key financial information was discussed at Cabinet.

The national FireControl Project collapsed at a cost of at least £500 million, the planning was a disaster and the technology wouldn’t work. The project, backed by the county council, collapsed costing £500 million, one of the most expensive and disastrous IT projects ever.

Cumbria councillors have signed up to pay for the regional fire control centre without the technology being in place, one of the central fault lines of the defunct FireControl Project. Much is being made of new technology using GPS to direct the movement of fire appliances.

Cumbria FBU brigade secretary Adrian Kevern said “Much is being made of how good the technology is, making all the same claims made for the defunct and disgraced national FireControl Project. Our county is well placed to know that you cannot rely on GPS systems to move your emergency appliances around.

“GPS is useless when roads are blocked by snow, fallen trees after storms or are flooded and unpassable. When bridges are swept away or too damaged to cross your GPS is useless and we are well used to dealing with those scenario’s in Cumbria’s fire control.

“Council explanations for the move lack credibility and we doubt whether the Cabinet ever understood the full implications of the decision it was taking. The County council has not explained when and how they properly considered all of the plans nor subjected them to proper public scrutiny.

“For councillors to say it is enough to have consulted over a previous botched plan that has now been abandoned is absurd. We need proper public scrutiny and consultation, our councillors must think again.”

***ENDS***

Ade Kevern (Cumbria)
Email:- Adrian.Kevern@fbu.org.uk
Mob:- 07967570362

The articles will give you a brief update of what’s going on and the links will take you to further and more detailed information from the FBU’s local and the national websites.

Volume 2

• e-bulletin Issue No1, can be viewed here (February 2012)

Volume 1

• e-bulletin Issue No6, can be viewed here (December 2011)
• e-Bulletin Issue No5, can be viewed here (November 2011)
• e-Bulletin Issue No4, can be viewed here (August 2011)
• e-Bulletin Issue No3, can be viewed here (July 2011)
• e-Bulletin Issue No2, can be viewed here (May 2011)
• e-Bulletin Issue No1, can be viewed here (April 2011)