geezer466 wrote:
There is a debate going on the army rumour service that the fire service should over the next 20 years or so be transitioned to become another branch of the MOD. Bit like the Army or Navy.
Recruitment takes place alongside the armed services where pers can sign up for traditional terms 3,6,9 years + up to 22 years with all operational staff having left the service by age 50 (as happens pretty much in the services today). Promotion is made on merit taking into account the length of contract the individual is on.
Resettlement advice and training courses would be made available for leavers pretty much in the same way as happens in the services today.
Persons are then free to pursue other career choices up to the normal retirement age at 65+. There would of course still be the pension scheme but it would be run along the same lines as the current service schemes.
Win win all round. Firepersons are not thrown onto the unemployed scrapheap at age 50 and the pensions scheme becomes affordable to everyone and fairer for the taxpayer.
Of course all current firepersons should have their terms and (pension) conditions honoured which would allow for the long transitional period. Towards the end of the 20 year transitional the brightest and best in at the ground floor today would form the mainstay of the training teams either at Moreton in the Marsh or other regional centres.
Recruitment takes place alongside the armed services where pers can sign up for traditional terms 3,6,9 years + up to 22 years with all operational staff having left the service by age 50 (as happens pretty much in the services today). Promotion is made on merit taking into account the length of contract the individual is on.
Resettlement advice and training courses would be made available for leavers pretty much in the same way as happens in the services today.
Persons are then free to pursue other career choices up to the normal retirement age at 65+. There would of course still be the pension scheme but it would be run along the same lines as the current service schemes.
Win win all round. Firepersons are not thrown onto the unemployed scrapheap at age 50 and the pensions scheme becomes affordable to everyone and fairer for the taxpayer.
Of course all current firepersons should have their terms and (pension) conditions honoured which would allow for the long transitional period. Towards the end of the 20 year transitional the brightest and best in at the ground floor today would form the mainstay of the training teams either at Moreton in the Marsh or other regional centres.
Let's not forget that not everything you read on the web is true and the Mod taking over is about as likely as me getting a gold medal in the forthcoming winter Olympics!
There is no way the Govt would shift the fire service from one Govt dept to another. It's far more likely that the entire UK fire & rescue service will be privatised in the next 20 years
In the last 15 years, the firefighters job has been been mapped into what are called 'rolemaps', They define various standards, the hours of work and the nature of the work undertaken by each role (was rank). Training and promotion is now carried out under a defined process, as is recruitment
Everything is now packaged in little compartments which makes it easy for a private company to bid to run a fire brigade. Its already started as our local fire service (LFB) does not own any fire engines, hose, breathing apparatus, or uniforms. All of this and the FF's training is now delivered by a private company -In the case of training Babcocks, The contingency fire service (during strikes) is also a PLC
Its the next logical step is to PFI fire safety inspectors and then 'operations' under PFI contracts. The fire service would perhaps provide an inspectorate (which already exists) which would audit that the PFI companies are working to the contract. This would involve audits at stations and on the fire ground at incidents - again, this is already being done
Under this more likely transition to PFI fire services, existing staff would not have their T&Cs (& pensions) protected. In fact their new contracts may involve a pay cut and longer hours. If you don't believe me, that is exactly what happened to the LFB vehicle technicians at South Ruislip (r/o Wickes) when that was privatised some years ago.
Lastly, there is no escape route to the fire service college for uniformed staff as........yes, you have guessed it...... that has just been bought by private company Capita. (who are already developing some of the 2km2 site for housing!)