BOLTON MPs David Crausby and Yasmin Qureshi are among the 27 Labour MPs from Greater Manchester who have urged the incoming Fire Minister to stop cuts to the fire service. TOM MOLLOY reports.

EVERY Labour MP in Greater Manchester has signed a letter arguing for an increase to the budget from government in the Spending Review.

The MPs have urged the Minister to invest in services in Greater Manchester so that the Conservative government’s austerity programme can be reversed.

In the letter to the incoming Fire Minister, they wrote:“It is our strong view that government has a moral imperative to ensure sufficient budgets for fire services in Greater Manchester. Firefighters believe the service has been decimated in the last 10 years as a result of government cuts, with the loss of 1,000 firefighter jobs, appliance, and the replacement of a local control room in Pendlebury, for one serving the entire North West in Warrington. We agree. Austerity means that we now have half the firefighters in Manchester than we had 10 years ago.

“The cuts we have seen in the last decade come at a time when demand on the service is growing. The gross failure of the government to remedy dangerous cladding, means thousands of Manchester residents are living in unsafe, non-fire regulation compliant buildings.

“The challenges facing GM Fire Service, from post-Grenfell fire safety in clad buildings, moorland fires across Greater Manchester, the response to the Manchester Arena attack and the terrorist threat level, mean that investment in the fire service should not be a political choice but a moral imperative.”

Another letter has also been sent to Mayor Andy Burnham, welcoming his decision to defer plans to reduce funding for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service.

The letter also offers Mr Burnham help in pressing the government to increase resources for the service. Earlier this year, Mr Burnham put forward controversial plans to cut the service to help save £12.8 million.

MPs claim they have a number of concerns with the proposals, including reducing the number of firefighters riding appliances, the reduction in the number of pumps overall, and proposals to close some fire stations.

The cuts could still mean closing Bolton’s two fire stations and replacing them with a new one, while cutting the number of fire engines, despite incidents increasing.

When they wer proposed, Bolton North East MP Sir David Crausby said: “Public safety should be the top priority of any Government. The huge fires across our moorland last year and the terrible loss of life in London at Grenfell show the importance of firefighters when the worst happens. However, this Government have decided to take taxpayers’ money out of Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue.”

“I am confident that the Mayor and the Chief Fire Officer are focused on minimising any impact on attendance times, but the fact remains that there will be a reduction in service due to the reduced budget.

“It’s also important to remember that this is a service that works though the consent of the public. They should be part of our community to build trust, working with local people to identify problems and helping to tackle the causes of fires.

“I want the public to engage with the consultation and express any concerns about the changes and I want the Government to recognise that constantly asking public services to do more with less is unsustainable.”

The Home Office said that it is yet to receive the letter but will respond in due course.

A spokesman said: “The Government is thankful for the continued tireless efforts of firefighters across the country.

“Fire and rescue services have the resources they need to do their important work and overall will receive around £2.3 billion in 2019/20.

They added that Greater Manchester is part of the Combined Authority and Mr Burnham receives a grant for all of his responsibilities including fire. Therefore it is up to him to determine the budget for its fire and rescue services in Greater Manchester.

Deputy Mayor for Policing, Crime, Criminal Justice and Fire, Bev Hughes, said: “Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has seen its budget cut by nearly £20 million since 2010. From the start of next year we will face a pension shortfall of £5.3 million in GMFRS as a result of Government changes to the pension scheme, leaving us with difficult decisions to make.

“The Mayor recently wrote to Greater Manchester’s MPs calling for their support in presenting a united front to the Government in calling for an end to austerity and a properly funded fire service going forward and we are pleased to see that they have taken up this call for action so swiftly.

“No final decisions on Programme for Change have yet been made and we are continuing discussions with the trade unions. While we will maintain firefighter numbers at or above May, 2017 levels for this year, to maintain these commitments beyond 2020, we will need to continue to lobby the Government to meet the pensions shortfall and to increase funding for fire and rescue services.”

Five facts about cuts to the fire service 

THE proposed cuts were put forward by the Mayor of Greater Manchester following a tough ten years for Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service (GMFRS).
Due to Government changes to the pension scheme, there is also now a considerable pension shortfall.
Here are five figures about the cuts:
£20m - Cuts to GMFRS since 2010
£5.3m - GMFRS pension shortfall

£12.8m - Money trying to be saved 
27 - MPs signed the letters
1,000 - Fire jobs lost in past 10 years