Money for Nothing, but you Quit for free!

Living your life in the public domain is for  some people  a way of life. Many newspapers and magazines thrive because members of the public wish to read lots of mindless and facile stuff about "celebrities"  (Although to be fair Dr's surgeries would be dead boring without reading materials like that, even if they are several years out of date.)

Let's be clear, we aren't averse to a spot of gossip, to use the appropriate cliché  "there's no smoke without fire"  There has been a certain dismissal recently, which in our opinion (with only a few selective titbits at our disposal) should have most definitely resulted in one of these

                  To claim  or not to claim, that is the question!

But ended in this .........

 

 

However we understand that particular amount, although totalling  more that a chief fire officer gets (we won't say earn)  in a week is small fry compared to the whopping £42,000 that Jim Andrews, the Chair of South Yorkshire happily handed over to several senior staff during a period of perfectly legal industrial action by the Fire Brigades Union. We could rabbit on about the who, what and where but this has had a significant amount of coverage in the press.  Bottom line is these people were contracted to work whatever hours were required of them and had no provision for overtime payments in their contracts. If do you fancy having a read at the shameful episode this article gives a good explanation of why we and many other people are campaigning for Cllr Andrews and CFO Courtney to resign.  

 

But lets put all that aside and take a more in depth view of the man who made the decision to pay the "overtime" - Cllr James Gregory Andrews, BEM If you click on his name it will take you to his declaration of pecuniary interests, we are interested in particular his declaration under para 2d - Body whose principle purpose is to influence public opinion or policy. 

 

 

A spot of amateur handwriting analysis clearly shows he is much fonder of the LABOUR PARTY than UNITE the union, in which union doesn't warrant the use of uppercase and sort of trails off into the distance, but it is UNITE and Cllr Andrews membership of it that made us howl with laughter - the man is in our opinion clearly a hypocrite of the highest order.

 

Let us show you our reasoning below

 

 

UNITE are very clear on the subject of FOI's - in fact they wrote a response to the Independent Commission for FOI's call for evidence (20 Nov 2015)

  

Unless you are a Labour chair of South Yorkshire FRS !!!!

So come on Jim you know you want to resign really !

 

It seems bizarre that a councillor who publicly allies himself to the biggest Trades Union in the country would covertly give thousands in payments to management to basically break a lawful strike !

 

When an audit revealed -

 

...... the payments, which officers received for working during strikes over the last two years, were withheld from public scrutiny because they were considered too “sensitive”.

and that FOI approving UNITE Union man Cllr Jim Andrews

 PERSONALLY APPROVED THE SECRET PAYMENTS

 

Now we do know he isn't a fan of democracy as he recently blocked a proposal to have a vote of confidence in......yes you guessed it

 

HIMSELF.... 

 

And from the horse's mouth Neill Carbutt, Brigade Secretary of the South Yorks FBU

 

"He stopped a question and statement from us (the FBU) on our position of no confidence in him and chief... He stopped Barnsley trade council speaking, Yorkshire post and a member of public. Apparently he could as he's the chair?"

Is this a man that UNITE the UNION wish to have in their ranks as a Brother ?

 

A man who conceals payments, refuses to allow perfectly reasonable questions at PUBLIC meetings, declines questions from the legitimate press  (gawd knows what they all get up to in private!)

 

 

 

But for now it appears Cllr Andrews is wearing a coat made from

 

 

As things sure as hell aren't sticking to him......

 

But we reckon that might not be the answer, personally we consider the fact that shortly after he very kindly gave Courtney and Co extra money he was awarded the BRITISH EMPIRE MEDAL and if you read the announcement it is very specific

 

Councillor James Gregory ANDREWS

Deputy Leader, Barnsley Metropolitan Council and Chairman,

 South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority.

 

For services to Local Government.

 

 

It was awarded in the

New Years Honours of 2015 !!! 

 

It's not us is it?

 

Do you also smell a

 

 

 

To date Cllr Andrat (whoops sorry,  we mean Andrews) has apologised but steadfastly refuses to resign as does CFO Courtney.

We think this is the ultimate insult to the FBU and members of the public

 

 

WHY????

 

 

 

Tomorrow we will write more regarding the Seven Principles of Public Life  something else that appears to have disappeared without trace recently.

 

 

 



 

 

 

 

 



 

Who is Burning Your Money ?

I would be the first to admit i can leave substantially more of the Taxpayers Alliance   than I can take.

But we have on couple of occasions been rather taken with what they have posted on their website. FCCL was dropped a hint to look at their articles on the Chief Fire Officers Association, and what an interesting read it is! The full article is available here 

FCCL strongly  advises everybody regardless of the work they do to join (and indeed become involved and active in ) A TRADE UNION. Unions can provide you with many benefits, from cheaper insurance to legal cover for employment issues should  you ever need it. However being in a union is not free, you pay a subscription, usually monthly to give you the cover you need. Most unions subs are on a sliding scale depending on how much you earn.  Below are the 2013 rates for the Fire Brigades Union (should you need more information it's here 

	WHOLETIME		JOB SHARE		RETAINED		VOLUNTEER		JUNIOR FIREFIGHTER
	WEEKLY	MONTHLY	WEEKLY	MONTHLY	WEEKLY	MONTHLY	WEEKLY	MONTHLY	WEEKLY	MONTHLY
TRADE	£5.30	£22.97	£2.65	£11.49	£1.75	£7.58	£0.35	£1.53	£1.75	£7.58
POLITICAL	£0.16	£0.69	£0.16	£0.69	£0.16	£0.69	£0.16	£0.69	-	-
AIF	£0.76	£3.29	£0.76	£3.29	£0.76	£3.29	£0.76	£3.29	£0.76	£3.29
TOTAL	£6.22	£26.95	£3.57	£15.47	£2.67	£11.56	£1.27	£5.51	£2.51	£10.87

So a "bog standard " fire fighters pays approx £323 a year  from their wages to enjoy the many benefits of being a member of the FBU.

So  if a firefighter on an average salary of £28,500 a year pays £323  (doing some big sums ) 

this means a Chief Fire Officer should pay in the region of  £1,800  per year fees to the CFOA

BUT 

GUESS 

                      WHAT ???

                         

    THEY PAY NOTHING AT ALL 

Because WE THE TAX PAYER PAY THEM 

Brigade	2009-10	2010-11	2011-12	Total
West Yorkshire	£4,698.75	£13,638.63	£14,652.00	£32,989.38
South Yorkshire	£17,909.74	£22,907.00	£16,610.15	£57,426.89

And to quote the taxpayers alliance 

The name suggests this is an organisation paid for by those at the top of the fire service. As I pointed out, this is far from the truth. It is taxpayers that prop-up the CFOA as it gets subscriptions from fire authorities across the country. Those same fire authorities even pay for the individual subscriptions of well paid senior fire officers.

We think that WYFRS and SYFRS  should take a stand and refuse to pay the subscriptions of the Chief Officer.  The London Fire Brigade agree with us.Last year Ron Dobson the London Fire Commissioner said this

At a time when public sector organisations are being challenged to make huge savings across the board, we believe this increase shows a lack of empathy with the financial situation facing all the fire and rescue services that CFOA is there to support.

“In the current economic climate we believe they should be leading the way, rather than simply passing on the cost of savings that we are all being asked to make.

We think that we the tax payers of Yorkshire should start to lobby to stop these payments to people who  already get very high salaries  BUT  it is much worse, here on the front page of the CFOA is the launch of Bluewatch !

The CFOA  are actually in partnership  with a private company  CAPITA

 Capita plc has today announced the launch of Blue Watch, a new fire and home safety scheme, supported by the UK’s fire and rescue services (FRS). Capita has signed a seven year contract, with an option to extend for a further three years, with CFOA Services Ltd (CSL) - a trading company of the Chief Fire Officers Association (CFOA) - to deliver the scheme.

The full press release is available here  (but you might have to login as a guest on the CFOA site) 


Now call me thick  but aren't we being constantly told that firefighters workload is reducing?  

That we don't need as many of them ?  

Yet our very own Fire Chiefs are using OUR MONEY  to promote a private venture and reading Paul Fullers  (CFOA Services Ltd (CSL) chair) which is a trading company of the Chief Fire Officers Association)  validation of the programme makes me  feel extremely sick !

Paul Fuller, CSL chair, said: “As a serving fire chief, I am proud of the work fire and rescue services across the UK have done to drive down death and injury, but more can always be done. Too many lives are still lost and injuries caused, which is why we have set up Blue Watch. Using our experience, knowledge and professionalism we will help landlords make their properties safer from the risks of fire and carbon monoxide. It’s all about providing the best possible advice and support, as well as top quality safety products. We are looking forward to working with Capita in bringing a fresh approach to fire and CO safety, which we hope will reduce the number of people affected by fire and CO.”

I THINK IT IS TIME TO CALL OUR FIRE CHIEFS TO ACCOUNT !

A FRESH APPROACH TO FIRE SAFETY  - ----It is

P R I V A T I S A T I O N 

(and not even by the back door) 

Jaime, Jaime Give us your answer do ?

CFO Jaime Courtney 

Jaime, Jaime give us your answer do

Are they ready, will they know what  to do ?

They’ll  only have  three weeks training

The  fire chief  we’re blaming , 

They aren’t well trained, the officers lame 

When it goes wrong, who will they sue? 

FCCL are very concerned about the use of scab labour within the fire and rescue service should industrial action take place. 

We know in any union it is the ultimate sanction - the withdrawal of labour is only used as a last resort and is a democratic decision not lightly taken by the FBU.

However in South Yorkshire  the Chief Fire Officer,Jaime Courtney has taken the unprecendented step  of recruiting and training  scab  labour in an effort to pre empt any possible action by the Fire Brigades Union. This creates loads of issues - and the first one has to be for the safety  of the people employed  to  do the job.   

So as well as hiring new staff who will receive minimum training on a zero hours contracts, FCCL understand they are also looking at sending managers with these new crews to incidents. The majority of managers in SYFR are members of the toothless Fire Officers Association. 

These  managers are surely  worried and concerned that should something go wrong at an incident then the blame could shift to them, the professionals, who will be overseeing the  totally inexperienced  workforce! 

The new "fire operatives"  are being trained in the use of breathing apparatus but what other training can you  compress into three weeks (when a normal fire fighter takes THREE MONTHS  to train to minimum standards). Normally when a Firefighter completes their initial training, they are not immediately allowed to use BA operationally. The officer in charge of the watch lets the individual gain some experience first and introduces them gradually to fires. They will normally only enter a premises when the main fire is extinguished and they will just dampen down etc. Eventually the officer in charge will allow them to go into a fire but only with an experienced Firefighter. It is normally around at least 6 months before the officer in charge  feels they are capable of being a competent BA wearer. 

THE DRIVING  FORCE ? 

Driving under blue light conditions, a  new driver would have most likely  been in the brigade for a number of years before becoming a driver. . Because of this they would have the experience of being in the back of an appliance which means they already know what is expected of them should they decide to take the plunge. 

Is driving a conventional HGV vehicle the same as driving a fire appliance under blue light conditions 

NO! 

FCCLS  advice to managers would be to join the Fire Brigades Union and strike with their colleagues instead of leaving firefighters to lose pay and fight for their pensions whilst they will they will still be getting paid to supervise  far from competent staff, even though managers have got the most to lose from the proposed change in pensions.

ARE OFFICERS TOO POSH TO PUSH  

(for  the right to retire at 55? )

Health and safety is at the heart of fire and rescue -  and nothing is more important than the health and safety of the fire fighters who carry out this dangerous role.  One of the major factors in improving safety is the one thing that is taught in theory but  in the main is learnt by practise - TEAMWORK.   How can people with only three weeks training have the ability to operate as a team and be competent in what they do? 

THEY CAN'T !!! 

But does the Chief Fire Officer even care ? 

At a recent community consultation event in Sheffield  where FCCL was one of only two members of the public attending  FCCL asked Jaime Courtney about  the competency of these proposed "fire operatives" His answer was so off the cuff we actually wrote it down so as not to mis quote him. 

"NOT COMPETENT - BUT WILLING !"

Willing to what exactly Jaime  - DIE ?

And we here at FCCL after discussing what he said  with operational and very experienced firefighters think that  its the strike breaking officers who will be  the scapegoats in all of this - they are even now they are being told to attend incidents with crews - so that if and when a strike takes place it can be said that attending fires is part of their everyday role. 

And of course it begs the question, are the officers who will supervise these incompetent but willing crews when something goes horrendously wrong be the ones to carry the can?  

Well with 18 months of campaigning under our belt we at FCCL have learnt one thing.

Chief Fire Officers most certainly do not take the blame for anything if they can dump it on  somebody else! 

It's going to be the Officers In Charge 

who carry the can for any accidents.