Firefighters' meals saved from Tory axe

The jobs of 100 London fire station cooks have been saved from Tory plans to axe the positions to save money.

The cooks, mostly part-time, work in 100 of London's 114 fire stations. The plan, which would have saved £1m from the London Fire Authority's £300m annual budget, has been dropped from the draft budget.

Tony Phillips, the branch secretary of Unison at the fire authority, who represents 85 of the 100 cooks, said: "We are pleased that their jobs are saved for another year. Station cooks have been under attack for many years and obviously it's very stressful for our members, who are the lowest-paid employees in the authority."

The cooks had their hours cut two years ago and no longer provide meals in the evenings or at weekends, when firefighters have to do their own cooking. Phillips said that this was a problem in smaller stations, where firefighters were overstretched.

Brian Coleman, leader of the Conservative group on the London Fire Authority, wants to get rid of the cooks. He said that 56% of firefighters who had had a medical inspection last year were overweight, and labelled the cooks "an anachronism". The removal of the cooks would help "to tackle the mess culture that exists in fire stations".

He said: "I would like to see firefighters parking their engine outside a caf‚, and having to go and eat in the community."

Mick Shergold, regional secretary of London's Fire Brigade Union, said: "Coleman's comments are an absolute insult to the capital's firefighters. The answer to health issues is to have proper catering arrangements and dietary advice.

"Re-entry of a full service would free all firefighters to do their jobs to a greater ability, and provide more time for community fire prevention initiatives."

by Ben Walker