Minister for Community Safety Roseanna Cunningham today welcomed an announcement by the Fire Brigades Union that firefighters in Scotland have voted to accept the terms of a Scottish Government offer on pensions.
The news means that there will be no strike action in Scotland.
Ms Cunningham has called on the UK Government to now act to ensure firefighters in England are not disadvantaged from their Scottish counterparts and address the outstanding issues in the ongoing trades dispute.
Roseanna Cunningham, Minister for Community Safety and Legal Affairs said:-“The Scottish Government is obviously delighted that firefighters in Scotland have voted to accept our offer which provides the best deal available for Scottish firefighters and communities within the legislative and financial constraints imposed on us by the current devolved settlement.
“This vote shows what we can do in Scotland by working together and we look forward to a sustained period of constructive partnership with FBU and others as we build a world class Scottish Fire Service for the future. We have been able to guarantee that there will be no compulsory redundancies, and to make a commitment that there will be no mutualisation or privatisation of the Fire Service in Scotland.
“Through the creation of the single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, we have been able to protect frontline services in the face of continued budget cuts from Westminster. We look forward to a sustained period of partnership working with the FBU and other staff bodies as we build a fundamentally different approach from that being pursued in England and Wales.
“Of course, we realise our offer does not cover reserved issues which remain within the control of the UK Government. This means that firefighters across all roles and jobs will experience significant detrimental changes to their pensions.
“We urge the UK Government to act now to ensure firefighters in England are not disadvantaged from their Scottish counterparts, and to address the outstanding issues in the trades dispute.”
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