McArthur: SNP neglect leaves fire service down on numbers and relying on 31-year-old appliances

Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesperson Liam McArthur MSP has today urged the SNP/Green Government to reverse years of neglect of Scotland’s Fire and Rescue Service after analysis by his party revealed that the oldest appliance in the service's fleet is more than three decades old, with growing evidence of resource pressure and cuts to firefighter numbers.    

Scottish Liberal Democrat analysis has found that:   

• The oldest appliance being used by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) is 31 years old.  
• The actual cost of maintaining SFRS stations has almost doubled over the past five years, increasing from £4,636,179.02 in 2018/19 to £7,268,793.94 in 2022/23.
• The number of FTE wholetime operational staff (full-time firefighters) dropped from 4,151 in 2012/13 to 3,487 in 2022/23. This is the lowest level in the last decade.    
• The number of FTE retained duty staff (on call firefighters) has dropped from 2,787 in 2012/13 to 2,333 in 2022/23. This is also the lowest level in the last decade.    

Earlier this week, firefighters gathered outside the Scottish Parliament to protest against government cuts to the service. 

Last month, the Chief Officer of the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Ross Haggart, indicated that the service needs to make £14 million cuts, which is the equivalent to 399 full-time firefighters.

Mr McArthur said:  

“These findings speak to the neglect suffered by our fire service at the hands of successive SNP governments.  

“They illustrate the scale of the cuts to wholetime and retained duty staff over the past decade, with the Chief Officer warning that significant additional cuts are coming down the line.

“Firefighters put their lives on the line to keep communities, households and individuals safe. The least they deserve is to be properly resourced with suitable and modern equipment. It’s clear from these figures that this may not always be the case.  

“The government needs to back our firefighters.  This requires resourcing and equipping the service properly so that it can tackle the challenges it faces day-in, day-out.”