Jul 23 2012
Exclusive by Janice Burns
FIRE bosses are driving around in a fleet of luxury cars costing taxpayers almost £1million a year.
Commanders of Scotland’s cash-strapped fire services zoom about in sport versions of Audis, Lexus, Mercedes and BMWs.
They also drive top-of-the-range 4x4s thanks to a perk of the job.
Last night, they were slammed by furious firefighters who are facing multi-million-pound cuts when Scotland’s eight brigades merge next year.
One firefighter said: “It’s a bloody disgrace that these fatcats are driving around in their top-of-the-range motors when the service is being cut to the bone and our pensions are being slashed.
“We are all struggling on low wages and drive beaten up old cars. It makes you sick when you see them parking their motors in the front of the building.
“I don’t see why they can’t just use pool cars to go out on jobs – I mean, how many real emergencies have there been in Strathclyde in the past 10 years?
“The Stockline explosion and the Glasgow airport terror attack are the only big ones I can think of.”
The bumper bill for about 200 commanders’ motors was exposed by a Freedom of Information Act request.
The perk allows officers on call or on flexi-duty to get an extra £4200 a year to spend on a vehicle of their choice.
Meanwhile, firefighters face huge cuts and station closures.
Last night, MSPs called for the car scheme to be scrapped and the money ploughed into frontline services instead.
The revelations come days after public spending watchdogs insisted cuts need to be made as Scottish fire services rank among the most expensive in the UK, costing £372million a year.
In April next year, Scotland’s brigades will merge into one in a bid to cut £293million over 15 years and Government sources claim the massive car leasing costs will be top of the slashing list.
Two months ago, we revealed that nine bosses at Strathclyde Fire and Rescue were allowed to retire with more than £1.5million in pension payouts – then return to work.
The same fire service top the league for flash motors, splashing out £315,700 in the past year and £293,500 the previous year on leased cars.
In Strathclyde, 74 area, group and station commanders drive fuel-guzzling executive and sports cars worth almost £40,000 each.
They include the two-litre Audi A6 Le Mans, Mazda 6 Sport, three-litre BMW 535 MSport, Mercedes 2.1CDI Estate Sport and a range of Lexus, Saabs and Land Rovers.
Fire chiefs insist they need top-of-the-range fast cars because they have to respond to emergencies.
Last night, police chief-turned-MSP Graeme Pearson and other politicians hit out at the scandal.
Pearson said: “At a time when difficult decisions are being made about how we provide a range of public services in a bid to balance the books, the sight of senior officials flying around in sports cars at taxpayers’ expense will not be well understood by the public.
“The idea that fire officers need fancy cars so they can respond to emergencies is barely credible and it’s time they thought about making do with something slightly less grand to get from A to B.”
Tory chief whip John Lamont said the amount spent on cars for fire chiefs was not acceptable and insisted it must not continue in the new single fire service.
He said: “I sympathise with the argument that vehicles are needed to cover various duties.
“But why they have to be top-of-the-range cars when much cheaper options would be acceptable is beyond me.
“As we move towards a single fire service, this is something we have to ensure does not happen.
“It undermines all the savings being made elsewhere in the organisation.”
Strathclyde Fire and Rescue Service said that 119 senior officers on call or on flexi-duty were eligible for the car leasing scheme.
Seventy-four took up the offer, the rest preferring to use their own cars and claim back mileage.
They also said that fire chiefs – who get to take their lease cars home and can use them for family outings and shopping trips – attended 2152 emergencies last year and the pricy blue light car insurance is paid for by the officers.
The second-highest car leasing bill of £120,329 for 27 flexi-duty officers came from Highlands and Islands Fire and Rescue Service but their choice of vehicles was less lavish with the most popular being the Nissan Quashqai and Volkswagens and no sports versions.
Next in line was Dumfries and Galloway with a bill of £106,366 to lease cars for 18 senior officers but there were no executive or sports versions among the fleet list and their favourite was the Volkwagen Golf.
In the past year, Fife have spent £69,000 on cars for 14 officers, Tayside paid £60,000 for 20 officers, Grampian came out at £55,200 for 12 officers and Central were bottom of the league, spending just £33,600 on cars for 14 officers – none of whom opted for sports or executive versions.
No information was available at the time of publication from Lothian and Borders. But fire service sources say the Lothian figure, plus fuel and other running costs, will take the final total close to £1million.
A Strathclyde Fire spokeswoman said: “We are an emergency response service and our senior officers need to be able to mobilise to incidents safely and quickly, at any time of the day or night.
“To do this, they need fast and reliable cars. Our officers can choose to use their own car and claim business mileage for journeys undertaken or lease their car through our agreed car lease scheme.
“Rates associated with these options are set by the National Joint Council.
“The cost to the service is the same whichever option they choose.
“The choice of car has no effect on the cost to the service as officers pay for any upgrade to the standard from their own pockets.
“The total cost equates to just £4200 per officer per year – a very worthwhile investment in this crucial element of our frontline emergency response.
“Officers are mobilised to all incidents classed ‘level 2’ or above, which is those attended by five or more pumps.
“They also get called to certain types of high risk situations such as incidents in hospitals or prisons and will always be called where there are persons reported as missing or where human life is at risk.
“These guys will take on the role of incident commander at larger fires, bringing a huge amount of experience and expertise to the job, and obviously freeing up crew commanders to get on with the job of attacking the blaze.
“They are trained to very high standards as part of a recognised national incident command system.
“They also have their own additional ‘attributes’, which means they will have trained to quite a level of expertise in a range of specialisms such as health and safety, technical services or urban search and rescue.
“These skills are used to manage a range of specialist services and are a core part of our frontline emergency response.
“The fire service attend a whole range of incidents outside the usual fires or road crashes. If there is a chemical spill, it will be these officers who ensure an effective emergency response.”
The Scottish Government refused to discuss details of cuts proposed in the new single service or if they were considering pool cars instead of leasing.
A spokesman said: “This is a matter for individual fire and rescue services and their boards.
“A new single Scottish Fire and Rescue Service will go live on April 1, 2013, safeguarding frontline services against Westminster budget cuts, improving access to specialist services and strengthening the connection with communities.
“The new single police and fire and rescue services will together deliver estimated efficiency savings of £1.7billion over 15 years.”
Industries have located themselves on the Forth near towns such as Alloa
