Cambridgeshire firefighters forced to use foodbanks and take second jobs - and chief fire officer says situation is hardest he has seen

Some Cambridgeshire firefighters are being forced to use foodbanks, a representative of the Fire Brigades Union has said.

Mark Harris said firefighters’ pay had not risen with inflation and they would be receiving more than £4,000 extra a year if it had.

He told a meeting of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Fire Authority that some firefighters were having to take on second and third jobs, adding: “Despite this some staff are forced to use foodbanks and face the real risk to lose their homes due to spiralling costs.”

Mr Harris raised concerns about proposed cuts and the impact this would have.

A report presented to the meeting said the authority needs to make £1.1million in savings this year and identified five levels of cuts it may need to make if it does not secure more funding.

Chief Fire Officer Chris Strickland said this was the most difficult situation he had seen in his 39 years in the fire service.

He said the authority had been making savings and efficiencies for the last 10 years. He highlighted that the services’ budget in 2010 was £30m, and said it was now just £31m.The government grant had been cut from £16m in 2011 to £9m.

He said most of the services’ budget came from council tax and it can only be raised by two per cent each year.

Without a change, he said there would be “difficult decisions” to make on savings.

The fire service may have to make support staff redundant or close at least three on-call fire stations.

Mr Strickland agreed that staff should be paid in line with inflation, but said the “stark reality” was that the service could only afford to pay the money it had. The proposed cuts, he said, were not “taken lightly”.

He added that the authority had to be prepared for “any eventuality”.