Baroness Bakewell: Lib Dem Peer to press for release of report on firefighter pay

The Government will be pressed by peers on 11 January to publish a heavily contentious report into overhauling the pay and conditions of firefighters.

Baroness Bakewell, a Liberal Democrat peer, will ask the Government why the Thomas Review has not been made public nearly a year after it was completed. She compared the delay to John Chilcot’s long-awaited final report into the Iraq War, which is now expected this year.

Some opposition politicians suspect the Thomas Review has not been published because it has not come to the conclusions that the Government had either anticipated or wanted.

On announcing the review in August 2014, Penny Mordaunt, then the fire minister, said that Adrian Thomas, a recruitment expert, would examine “barriers” preventing firefighters from working to a late retirement age.

Mr Thomas was also asked to look at whether a UK-wide contract agreement “remains appropriate” and whether to increase the use of on-call staff who typically hold other jobs.

The Fire Brigades Union, which had already been locked in vicious rows with the Government over pensions, thought this review had been briefed to further erode its members’ rights.

In a submission, it said: “The FBU is critical of the nature, rationale, methods and timing of the review.

“Our fear is that the review will be an attack on national bargaining arrangements and a prelude to further attacks on pay and other conditions of service. It is a response to the FBU’s campaign to defend pensions, as is clear from the terms of reference, which aim to ensure firefighters work longer, so they ‘achieve, or if desired, exceed their normal pension age’.”

The review was expected to be published last February and then in March. However, Ms Mordaunt said that it would instead come out after the May general election, stating that the “Government response will contribute to a constructive debate, and further consultation, in the months ahead”.

Lady Bakewell will ask in the House of Lords tomorrow, why there has been a delay. She said: “This review has taken place, yet no findings have been revealed. This is not quite as bad as the Chilcot inquiry, but it is running it a close second.

“What’s the point of undertaking a great, expensive review if you’re not going to publish it? That is not a great use of taxpayers’ money.”

The Home Office said the report would be published in “due course”. The situation has been complicated by last week’s decision to move responsibility for fire and rescue from the Communities and Local Government department to the Home Office. Mike Penning, a former firefighter, is now the minister with responsibility for the fire services.

A source close to the FBU said the latest delays could be down to the service having “no political leadership” since the general election.

However, the union is not thought to be keen to push the Home Office for publication in case Mr Thomas’s proposals are as hard-hitting as feared in 2014 – in particular, it is worried that the report could herald the replacement of many full-time firefighters with on-call staff.

* An earlier version of this article included a picture of the wrong Baroness Bakewell; the image has now been removed. 11/1/16