Opt –Out Fight continues in Brussels and Westminster

News from Brussels
We understand that at the latest conciliation meeting held late Tuesday evening 17th March, "no agreement could be reached on the main controversial aspects" of the directive. Spanish socialist rapporteur Alejandro Cercas attempted to submit an amendment which could be viewed as a ‘ploy’ to buy off members concerns over the working hours of hospital doctors, in effect an attempt to ‘divide and rule’ Once again strong evidence of the desperation involved in achieving the aim of removing the Opt-Out. If this ploy had been successful it would have left those in favour of maintaining the opt–out in a difficult position, thankfully however swift intervention by UK MEP Liz Lynne saw to it that this tactic was spotted in time and the plan was foiled.

It appears that little progress has been made; the Parliament continues to dig its heels in, in the face of attempts by the Council to maintain its position which is that removal of the Opt-Out is non negotiable. We also understand that the next conciliation meeting takes place on 1 April. Any final agreement will need to be approved or rejected at the Parliament's plenary session in Strasbourg on 4-7 May.

Over recent weeks, it has been suggested in some quarters that the threat to the RDS is nothing more than scaremongering or a variety of similar comments that this is not an urgent issue. For the purposes of clarity, the conciliation is ongoing as we speak and could well be determined in Strasbourg on 4-7th May . We are amazed just how ‘out of touch’ this organisation is with the needs of its members. We have never experienced an issue within the fire service that has united all political parties, LGA, and CFOA. The number of debates, media coverage including TV interviews clearly demonstrates the reality and the uncomfortable truth for those who choose to remain either silent or in denial!

News from Westminster – Yet another Debate! Opposition Day 10th March, 2009
Below are some of the comments from the debate largely centres around the health service but inevitably turned to the issue of retained firefighters, the full transcript is available here.

Andrew Lansley (Conservative) Shadow Secretary of State for Health, (South Cambridgeshire) opened up the debate by stating opposition to the ‘forthcoming blanket imposition in Britain of the 48-hour working week under the European Working Time Directive in August 2009;’

This debate was very much centred on the affect this would have on the health service and; ‘notes in particular the potential impact on patient safety arising from reduced and inflexible working hours for NHS doctors’

These fears were backed up by Sir Robert Smith Lib Dem (West Aberdeenshire and Kincardine) who said….. ‘especially as there is considerable concern in the health service about the impact on training and on the development of doctors’…… The motion should go wider, however. There is great concern in the north-east of Scotland about the future of the retained fire brigade service and the working time directive’

Mr. Philip Dunne (Ludlow) (Con): In his continuing negotiations in Europe and in the context of his remarks about protection and well-being,…….’ what would the Secretary of State say to the constituents of Ludlow, not a single one of whom has anyone other than retained firefighters to protect their well-being, if, as a result of the loss of this opt-out, we have no fire protection cover in Shropshire’

Alan Johnson: This is the position…….. ‘The retained firefighters need the opt-out. We have protected the opt-out since 1998, and against the most vehement criticism from other member states’

Norman Lamb: I am grateful for it. My hon. Friend secured an Adjournment debate on the subject of retained firefighters, who are important in his constituency and in my rural constituency, the whole of which depends on the work of those fine individuals who give their spare time to protect their community……..’It is absolutely essential that their capacity to provide that service and that contribution to their community is retained. That is why the retention of the opt-out is so important’

Mr. Alan Reid (Argyll and Bute) (LD): My hon. Friend is quite right about those individuals giving time to their community. Does he agree that it is ridiculous that, ‘under the European Parliament’s proposals, if people got together and voluntarily operated a fire engine without pay they would not be covered by the directive, but because they are professionally trained and get a small wage they will be covered?’ In fact, the proposals would simply mean that we would not have paid, professional fire cover throughout large parts of the country.

Norman Lamb: 'That is a very good point, and it demonstrates that overly prescriptive regulations imposed from Brussels can have unintended and rather ludicrous consequences. That is why it is important to retain the opt-out, so that that professional service can be retained.'

Mr. Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Cotswold) (Con): There are some 96 fire stations in this country that are staffed by full-time firefighters, and ‘retained firefighters are a vital part of our nation’s fire protection’. Indeed, as I witnessed during the summer floods of 2007, ‘the work of firefighters in providing emergency relief to those so badly affected was vital’. They are going to face great difficulties if this opt-out is abolished.

Mike Penning (Hemel Hempstead) (Con): I am also grateful for the understanding of the Chair—for allowing me to speak from the Back Benches this evening on an issue that is very close to my heart and the hearts of my constituents: the future of the fire service in the United Kingdom.

‘The working time directive will have effects on numerous areas in our communities, but one of the most risky and dangerous is the future of the retained and voluntary fire service.’

We have, without any shadow of a doubt, the greatest fire service certainly in Europe, if not the world—and I must declare an interest, as I am a former firefighter. I was a full-time firefighter, and a member of the Fire Brigades Union, which was, and still is, quite anti retained firefighters. I understand the reason for that, even if it is somewhat lost in the 21st century; it is a feeling that retained firefighters take jobs from whole-time firefighters. I do not think that is true; we should come to an understanding, based on costs and analysis, of what is right for firefighting throughout this country.

‘Why were we in this country being affected so badly compared with other EU countries? The reason is simple. We pay our firefighters well, whether they are whole-time or retained. It is not a huge amount of money, but they are paid and they get a pension. As a result, our firefighters are completely different from those in the rest of the European Union. Most other firefighters in the European Union who are not full-time are volunteers and they only get expenses—surprise, surprise, Europe looks at them in a different way when it comes to this legislation from how it sees UK firefighters. That is the simple situation. I have heard all the banter going back across the Chamber tonight as to what the reason is, but the facts are there—we trained them, we give them a pension and we look after them in the way that they deserve to be looked after’

‘What I cannot understand is the Fire Brigades Union’s complete lack of understanding as to why it needs to join this campaign that the excellent Retained Firefighters Union has started’

The measure will have an effect on the FBU’s whole-time firefighters. I am talking not only about the ones who will be part-time firefighters in the evening or at weekends, or who will be on call on their pagers, but those firefighters who have more than one job.

‘This legislation will have a major effect when it comes in, and the FBU needs to understand the effects on its members as well as on some retained firefighters;

What could happen if this legislation were to go through? I know that the FBU feels that we have to have more whole-time firefighters, but we do not have the money for that. No community in the country, especially those in the rural areas, could have regular, full-time firemen covering every single situation

Sammy Wilson (East Antrim) (DUP): In Northern Ireland in particular, the working time directive would cause a great problem for many of the emergency services. Of the 68 fire stations in Northern Ireland, 46 rely totally on retained firefighters. If the working time directive applied to them, large parts of Northern Ireland would be left without a local fire station. As has been pointed out, it is not an option to say, “Well, let’s have full-time firefighters in all those stations.” One thousand firefighters in Northern Ireland are retained firefighters and would be affected by the measure.

In my constituency the life boat would be affected, as would the coastguards. Ironically, although the directive is supposed to be applied for health and safety reasons, health and safety would be impaired by it. It is therefore important that the Government push on their commitment that the opt-out will be retained.

The Minister for Employment Relations and Postal Affairs (Mr. Pat McFadden): This has been a useful debate on an issue that, as we have heard, is relevant to both our national health service and the economy more widely. I thank all the right hon. and hon. Members who have taken part. As we debate the matter in the House, it is also being discussed in the European Union, most recently at the Employment and Social Affairs Council, which I attended in Brussels yesterday.

At the moment, some people have either lost their jobs or are on short-time working, which may have reduced their earning capacity. The Government believe that it would be wrong to say to the partner of such a worker that we wanted to limit their choice to work longer and earn more if they can, thereby perhaps allowing them to continue to pay their mortgage and other family bills. We have made that point to fellow member states in the negotiations.

Several hon. Members, including the hon. Members for Moray (Angus Robertson), for North Norfolk (Norman Lamb), for Cotswold (Mr. Clifton-Brown), for Hemel Hempstead (Mike Penning), for Poole (Mr. Syms) and for East Antrim (Sammy Wilson) raised the important issue of retained firefighters.

The value and importance of the service were rightly highlighted. I want to make it clear that, contrary to what some believe, there are no general exemptions for emergency services in the directive, so an end to the opt-out would have implications for them.

In the case of retained firefighters, who give their time and effort, normally on top of doing another full-time job, it is difficult to understand how that valuable and important service, which benefits the whole community, could continue in its current form without the opt-out. Let me reassure the House that the Government fully appreciate the importance of the retained fire service. That is another reason for our belief that it is important to build into legislation the sort of flexibility that the opt-out provides’

We continue to receive press releases and information, the latest from Open Europe. On 16th March it included comment from a broad spectrum of the working population who registered their concerns over the loss of the Opt-Out and argued the true costs of its removal, whether you support Open Europe’s position or not, the references to cost have not been denied by other stakeholders. Document available here.

National Employers
On 17th March RFU Officials met with the National Employers at Church House in Westminster, these meetings fall within the parameters of ‘Consultation’ and on this occasion a very useful opportunity to discuss a number of relevant issues.

On this occasion we discussed the ongoing issue over ‘In Scope’ drivers and of course the threat to the Opt-Out. We enjoyed a constructive exchange of views and were able to clarify certain points on both In Scope and the Opt-Out.
We feel sure that the minutes of this meeting will accurately reflect broad agreement that the threat to the Opt-Out is a very real one.

John Barton
National General Secretary