3:00pm Tuesday 24th February 2009
By Peter Magill
QUESTIONS are being raised in the House of Lords regarding a threat to retained fire services in Pendle and Lancashire.
Lancashire’s chief fire officer Peter Holland spoke out this week about how the roles of part-time firefighters across East Lancashire could be placed in jeopardy because of the European working time directive.
Seven fire stations, including Colne, Barnoldswick and Earby, use retained firefighters, and a further six, including Nelson, are staffed by part-time staff.
Now Lord Tony Greaves has tabled a series of questions in Parliament, in a bid to clarify the situation, following fears for the future of the service.
Along with Colne town council chairman Coun Dorothy Lord, he is also calling on his Liberal Democrat colleague, MEP Chris Davies, to visit Pendle to discuss the issue.
Lord Greaves said: “If the part-time ‘retained’ fire service is banned it will wipe out the fire service in Colne and West Craven.
“It would also halve the service at Nelson.”
Under current rules an ‘opt-out’ can be obtained, to prevent workers being contracted for more than 48 hours per week.
The issue is whether retained firefighters, who remain on standby, should be excluded from the provisions.
Lord Greaves is asking the Government what their position is on the proposed directive and how it would affect retained firefighters.
The Waterside councillor also wants to know how many retained posts there are in England and how many stations rely on them, in whole or in part, and how many callouts they tackle each year.
The other retained stations are Padiham, Haslingden, Great Harwood and Ramsbottom, and the part-retained locations are Darwen, Rawtenstall, Bacup, Hyndburn and Clitheroe.
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