Fire office staff off sick more than 999 crews

Back office staff at West Midlands fire service took almost twice the number of sick days as front-line firefighters, it emerged today.

While uniformed firefighters took an average of 5.27 days off sick each last year, which was fewer than their bosses expected, control staff and other workers lost 9.12 days each.

The fire service expected to lose an average of 5.5 days for each worker. West Midlands Fire Service employs 2,403 staff in total and around 2,000 of that number are firefighters.

It means that non-uniformed staff accounted for around 3,500 days of lost time in 2010/11.

The overall average for staff sickness was 6.15 days.

An annual plan by the service states: "This challenging target will be achieved through better understanding and targetting of the reasons for absence."

Wolverhampton Conservative councillor Joan Stevenson, a member of the West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority said: "It is surprising that men and women out on the front line and in a position to sustain injury have taken virtually half the number of sick days of works in what I would call the back office.

"We have to try to understand what exactly it is that has caused this."

The fire authority is losing £7.7 million from its government grant this year followed by a further £2.5 million in 2012/13. It has set aside £112m as a budget. It is feared that as many as 800 firefighters' jobs could go.

The service is getting rid of 94 specialist roles across the West Midlands by reducing the number of firefighters on duty at some stations.

In an annual report chief fire officer Vij Randenihya states: "Delivering essential services with the current and possible future cuts presents a significant challenge to us and will require commitment from all our staff, so we continue to deliver our vital services."