RFU claim victory in keeping the individual Opt-Out!

The 3rd WTD conciliation committee broke down tonight (27 April) ending the round of negotiations without agreement. The Council and European Parliament were unable to agree, in particular on the issue of the opt-out. With the deadline for reaching an agreement rapidly approaching and the differences between the parties so great, it was agreed there was no value in continuing the negotiations any further.

Parliament and Council could not find a compromise on three crucial points: the opt-out, on-call time and multiple contracts. This is the first time that no agreement could be reached at the Conciliation stage since the entry into force of the Amsterdam Treaty which significantly extended the scope of the co-decision procedure.

The Conciliation Committee, composed of delegations from Parliament and Council decided that it was not possible to reach an agreement. This decision was adopted by an overwhelming majority within the EP delegation (15 votes in favour, 5 abstentions and 0 against). The main stumbling block was the opt-out.

The dossier in its current form will formally fall when the conciliation timetable reaches its conclusion in May. It will then be for the European Commission to decide how to proceed.

The collapse sees the end of the European Parliament’s proposal to phase out the opt-out in three years. The existing Working Time Directive remains in force, including the opt-out as it currently stands.

General Secretary, John Barton stated “The RFU welcomes the news that the status-quo will remain due to a lack of an agreement. This news is without doubt a major victory for the UK Fire & Rescue Service and Retained Duty System personnel in particular. After months of hard work undertaken by the RFU, lobbying MPs and MEPs it is without precedent that we obtained cross-party support to challenge the proposal; it would appear that common sense has prevailed at last.

However, we are not naive enough to believe that this problem has gone away for good, we are fully aware that the European Parliament will look to submit further proposals to amend the Working Time Directive sometime in the future. However, having now raised awareness within the political parties that without the individual Opt-Out, the Retained Duty System, which is the backbone of the UK Fire & Rescue Service, would struggle to function. Our local communities would suffer in terms of the provision of fire cover which is currently provided by Retained personnel.

I would like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to all those who have supported our campaign over the past 4 months; we hope we can count on your valuable support should this issue be raised again in the future”

Further details can be found on the European Parliament website

Operational Guidance: Breathing Apparatus Command and Control Procedures - Review and refresh of Technical Bulletin 1/97

The project group met earlier this month to begin to narrow the Scope of the Project and determine the composition of both Project Board and Working Group(s). This Project was identified by the Chief Fire & Rescue Advisors (CFRA) unit as one of the eight priority Operational Guidance themes at the Practitioners’ Forum in October 08.

The Composition of Project Board: (Main Board) will consist of CFRA, APFO, CFOA, RFU, CLG, FBU, FOA, FSC, & NRT.

Composition of the Working Group(s) are to be determined following Inaugural Working Group Practitioner Workshop on 23rd/24th April and Project Board on 5th May 2009.

There is representation from the devolved administrations and a Lead Contact Point for each English FRS Region.

Copies of the minutes and papers are available to RFU members on request, or if you have any points to make please contact us on rfuhq@rfuonline.co.uk

Co-Responder Schemes are expanded in Hampshire FRS

South Central Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service have joined forces in 2004 to introduce the Co –Responder Scheme, initially on just 3 stations and then expanded again in 2006 with 3 more stations going on the run. Such has been the success that the scheme is being expanded again, this time with 8 more stations. This expansion provides for the possibility of Hampshire firefighters attending up to 10,000 calls per annum in the future. Training as always is being provided by the trust itself which should remove any claims in certain circles that these community spirited ‘volunteers’ are being forced to carry out the task without adequate training.

A significant step such as this can only mean one thing……… Communities covered by these stations can now receive a swifter response than was previously the case, ambulance paramedics will continue to respond but a swift local intervention by trained fire personnel might well make the difference in buying time for ambulance ‘professionals' to do their important job when they arrive on scene.

The RFU congratulates the South Central Ambulance Services NHS Trust and Hampshire Fire and Rescue Service on its joint effort in expanding the scheme, we support and encourage our members who take part by not limiting any of the member benefits and will provide full legal protection and support whilst they carry out this important task.

If you’re not a member yet and are already taking part in the scheme, please contact Rikki Noble Hampshire RFU Chair 07985 559243 or rikki@hrfu.org.uk for details or to request a station visit to explain the benefits to you in detail.

Statutory maternity, paternity and adoption

From April 2009, the standard rate of Statutory Maternity Pay (SMP), Statutory Adoption Pay (SAP) and Statutory Paternity Pay (SPP) in the UK increased from £117.18 per week to £123.06 per week.

John Barton
National General Secretary