Brave fire fighters need a better deal

Yesterday, Anne Main led a 90 min debate on fire services in Hertfordshire.

Yesterday, Anne Main, Member of Parliament for St Albans, led a 90 min debate on fire services in Hertfordshire.

Anne took the opportunity to hold Minister for Communities and Local Government, Sadiq Khan, to account on issues including: budget shortages leading to cuts and closures, increases in firefighter deaths, the vastly over budget regional control centre project, and the lack of adequate training for firefighters and no recognition of flood responsibilities. She was joined by fellow Hertfordshire MPs James Clappison, Mark Prisk, and Oliver Heald.

Anne said:

"It was vital to raise these issues to the Minister directly. Following the deaths of three Hertfordshire firefighters, he needs to accept the recommendations in the FBU 'In the line of duty' report as a matter of urgency. After listening to my debate he did commit to evaluating the report and returning to Parliament with considered recommendations, he also committed to ensure adequate recording of the work of our fire services both at fire and flooding incidents.

However, there were still a lot of unanswered questions and, talking to members of the Fire Brigades Union afterwards, it was clear that they are keen to get more commitment from the Government on various issues. I agree, as our brave fire fighters need adequate funding and training and we need to keep our services local.

Consequently, I have written Minister today to ask him to answer in more detail many of the points I raised. I am particularly concerned about the shambolic regional control centre project, which is already three years late and 14 times over budget at a projected cost of