Wolverhampton firefighters in ‘stand-off’ over council care contracts
Firefighters are in a stand-off over care contracts with councils to attend elderly falls, union bosses have claimed.
West Midlands Fire Service had agreed a two-year contract with councils to respond to emergency call-outs from OAPs who have fallen at home, while one authority is also paying for hospital patient transportation.
The fire service won contracts with Wolverhampton and Dudley councils.
But after a dispute with the Fire Brigades Union on the work, members have withdrawn support for their employer’s contract with the councils.
Firefighters and civilian staff can and have volunteered to take part in the flexible scheme, which can boost their wages by 25 per cent.
Crews at Wolverhampton and Fallings Park attended 2,119 falls as part of the contract with Wolverhampton council in 2016/17, compared to 992 actual fires.
Andrew Scattergood, from West Midlands Fire Brigades Union, said: “The union agreed to do the contracts as a trial and when it raised concerns over training and equipment it decided to stop the trial.”
The FBU has raised concerns about the training of firefighters for the new roles as well as the risk it could impact cover for actual fires.
The union is campaigning against the contracts under the banner Fired Up, which has more than 10,000 signatures.
Mr Scattergood added: “We will use every tool in our arsenal to fight off these contracts.”
West Midlands Fire Service Chief Fire Officer, Phil Loach, said the contract was ‘a fantastic opportunity to help the most vulnerable’.
