Frequently asked questions

What is the Service Delivery Review?

The Service Delivery Review (SDR) is looking at where the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service’s (SFRS) resources – staff, fire stations and appliances – are best placed so that they are matched to operational risk and demand across Scotland.  This includes where fire stations are based, as well as how and when we crew our appliances.

What is being considered as part of the public consultation?

SFRS has launched a 12-week public consultation which proposes 23 options for change. These include the relocation, merger and closure of selected fire stations, as well as changes to the shift patterns of firefighters at targeted locations.

This phase of the SDR will concentrate on key strategic priorities, including:

• Stations affected by reinforced autoclaved aerated concrete (RAAC).
• Consolidation of the temporary withdrawal of ten 2nd or 3rd wholetime appliances.
• Stations classified as long-term dormant.

What are the timescales of the public consultation?

• June 2025: A 12-week public consultation commences, gathering input from staff, stakeholders, and communities across Scotland.
• December 2025: Final decisions will be made by SFRS Board.

Why is a public consultation required?

As a statutory service provider, SFRS has a legal duty to consult with our stakeholders and involve them in the decision-making processes regarding the service we provide.

In addition, involving external stakeholders, particularly members of the public, can bring highly valuable local insight and knowledge that can help improve our decision-making and ensure that we meet the needs and expectations of the communities we serve.

Why is the Service Delivery Review being carried out?

SFRS’ operational footprint has remained largely unchanged for many years, despite changing community risks as well as the need for a more sustainable and modern response model.

How does SFRS know community risk has changed?

SFRS is guided by the Community Risk Index Model (CRIM) which uses a wide range of data sources to generate a fire and rescue risk score for each of the 6,976 data zones within Scotland.

It has been evaluated by academic experts in the fields of data analytics and statistical learning.

It works by using an algorithm, which identifies the links between factors within the human, built and natural environments, the likelihood of different incident types occurring and the potential severity of those incidents.

Community risk will continue to change because the places we go and the way we do things evolve from year to year. SFRS has been able to observe some of these changes by analysing trends in the occurrence of different incident types and their consequences in terms of the level of harm they cause.

 SDR is the culmination of several years of work during which time we have analysed changing community risk across Scotland.

Is this review purely financially driven?

No. SDR is a long-term strategic redesign of services and not a short-term savings exercise. However, like all public sector organisations, SFRS faces financial challenges and this is one consideration.

What are the potential benefits?

SFRS must match operational resources to risk and demand, ensuring fire cover where it is needed most.

By making changes, SFRS can also free up staff and resources to invest more in firefighter training and prevention work in communities.

What reassurance can SFRS give on local fire cover?

The objective of the Service Delivery Review (SDR) is to gradually move towards more consistent levels of fire cover across Scotland - which align with the operational risk and demand.

All options have been carefully developed through computer modelling and analysis to minimise negative impacts and provide a better balance with other similar areas of Scotland

Will this review see a reduction of wholetime firefighter numbers?

No. The options being considered do not represent a reduction in wholetime staffing numbers. Instead, any changes would see the reinvestment of resources to improve operational resilience where required and bolster other safety critical roles across training and prevention.

What is a day shift duty system?

The day shift duty system (DSDS), which has been implemented at Livingston fire station in West Lothian, sees employees work Monday to Friday between 8am and 6pm.

DSDS aligns the working time of employees with maintaining operational availability at busy periods.

It reduces the need for pre-arranged overtime and maintains operational cover during periods which are challenging for maintaining on call availability.

What is a nucleus crew?

A nucleus crew is a suitably sized group of operational employees (Crew Commanders and Firefighters) providing the skills and services required across a particular cluster of on call fire stations. The crew typically work during mid-week, day-shift hours (8am to 6pm) either working together or dispersed across on call stations within the cluster. 

What is a long-term dormant station?

Long-term dormant stations are those that have been unable to maintain availability of the minimum number of suitably skilled personnel to crew an appliance for an extended period. All reasonable steps to recruit sufficient crew have been exhausted and analysis of the current and anticipated recruitment pool suggests that it will not be possible for the local community to provide and sustain a viable on call crew. Crew members do not contribute to alternative incident response arrangements and community risk and incident demand are low and can be mitigated through targeted prevention activity.

Will any 2nd or 3rd appliances removed during the temporary appliance withdrawal in September 2023 be reinstated?

Potentially.  Some of the options now being considered may result in the return of wholetime appliances to their previous locations. 

How will SFRS support staff affected by change?

Staff on potentially impacted stations are being informed and supported in a timely and appropriate manner. SFRS local management teams have been carrying out an extensive engagement programme with all staff on affected stations. Any potential changes in the future will be carefully planned with staff wellbeing as a top priority. If amendments to employment contracts become necessary because of any changes, these will be managed by taking individual preferences into account, balanced against organisational needs, utilising SFRS policies where applicable. 

What engagement has SFRS had with representative bodies so far?

Extensive engagement with representative bodies has been a key part of the process up to this point and that will continue as we progress.