Fife’s chief fire officer has not ruled out the option of a single Scottish service, but described the current set up in the region as “ideal.”
Neil McFarlane said because Fife Fire and Rescue Service shared its boundary with Fife Constabulary, Fife Council and other local organisations it was ideally placed to work with other agencies towards improving community safety.
However, he conceded the current financial climate meant savings had to be made and said he would be prepared to consider any changes mooted by the Scottish Government.
It is not known how expected changes will affect staffing levels. Fife Fire and Rescue Service employs 392 full-time and 112 on-call fire-fighters and 46 support staff. Fife Constabulary has 1086 officers and 539 civilian employees.
Mr McFarlane said, “I’m expecting an announcement to say they’re looking at a number of options. These are likely to include looking at a more shared service approach to the fire service to generate savings.
“We may also have to look at what we are doing and whether it is feasible to have a single service in Scotland. I think that is one of the options that will come out.
“But we have to make sure there is no degradation of services, and we have to bear in mind that Fife works within a coterminous boundary and we are looking at ways of delivering services in partnership with Fife Council and Fife Constabulary.”
Fife Fire and Rescue Service has already started working with neighbouring services to make savings by sharing equipment and specialist staff.Shared chiefLast year, it was suggested Fife could share a chief fire officer with Lothian and Borders Fire and Rescue Service, but the idea was discarded and Mr McFarlane was subsequently appointed.
“The focus is on delivering better services for less,” said Mr McFarlane. “We have been working with Tayside and Central for the last 12 months and are now engaging with Lothian and Borders and looking at what we can do more collectively.
“There’s nothing new there. I’m not ruling out a move to a larger organisation, but we would have to ensure accountability and democracy in delivering the service to the community.
“We’ve got to explore all the options, but we shouldn’t forget the benefits of having organisations within clearly defined geographical boundaries.
“That has to be a strong message in any debate about what’s going to happen as we go forward. If we move into a new model then we would have to take the needs of communities into consideration.”
Fife Constabulary’s chief constable Norma Graham declined to comment ahead of the announcement.