Shropshire firefighters' shift change 'could see hours double'

Shropshire Fire and Rescue Service is currently consulting on ways to save just over £1 million from its £20 million budget before April next year.

One part of the plans is to change shift patterns to save almost half of that - but the move has come under fire from the Fire Brigades Union.

The proposal, called Day Crew Plus, would affect 14 firefighters at one station in the county - possibly Telford Central, although no final decision has been taken.

The current system sees crews work two days and two nights a week, having the other three days off.

But under the new rules the 14 firefighters would be split into two watches.

One would start on Monday morning and stay on duty at the station until Friday morning, with the second watch taking over and working through until Tuesday morning.

Those who volunteer to be part of the new shift system would be paid around a third more than their colleagues once pension and national insurance contributions are taken into account.

Matt Lamb, secretary of the Shropshire branch of the Fire Brigades Union, said the 14 firefighters would be at work for an average of 84 hours per week under the proposals.

"They will effectively be living at the stations, they would arrive on Monday morning and not go home until Friday," he said.

"Obviously they won't be 'on duty' throughout all of that time, but those are ridiculously long hours to work.

"The vast, vast majority disagree with it.

"It's not family friendly and not something they want to do. They don't want the brigade to do it.

"It appeals to one or two people, there is a bit of extra pay and they are prepared to do it for an increase in pay.

"There are also a small number of people that live a fair distance away, so for them staying over makes more sense than commuting long distances every day."

Mr Lamb said he believed the new shift team would be based at Telford Central but nothing has been confirmed by fire chiefs.

Andy Johnson, the brigade's assistant chief fire officer admitted it would be "an extreme change" and "not that family friendly".

He said: "My perception would be, if we did not do this we would require all staff to convert across to some new shift pattern to make the savings we need."

Emergency services workers can exempt themselves from European time directives, which regulate work shifts and gaps between them, which is why this idea could be implemented.

A similar proposal was adopted at Hereford and Worcester Fire and Rescue Service from April, for a crew based at Bromsgrove.

A public consultation ends 31 July.