All of London's firefighters asked to consider redundancy

- Meanwhile civilian staff offered £10,000 'golden goodbyes' to leave- Mayor ordered service to save £65 million in two years- Union expects members to ignore 'unattractive' offer

All of London's firefighters have been asked to consider quitting their jobs, it emerged today.

Civilian staff are also being encouraged to quit the brigade - with the added bonus of a £10,000 “golden goodbye” to entice them to leave.

Letters have been sent to all 5,727 firefighters and 1,000 civilians inviting them to consider redundancy as Europe’s biggest brigade searches for about 1,000 job cuts.

Brigade chiefs are planning the biggest shake-up in its 146-year history after being ordered by Boris Johnson to save £65 million over two years. A series of proposals, including one to axe 840 firefighter posts and 30 fire engines, emerged last month.

Brigade sources emphasise that it would be left to the discretion of managers to decide which non-firefighting staff to allow to leave. The £10,000 pay-off would be on top of their statutory redundancy pay.

However the tax-free bonus is not being offered to firefighters, whose numbers are expected to be slashed in response to a decline in the number of fire deaths. Fatalities have fallen from 81 in 2001 to 55 last year.

The Fire Brigades Union expects its members to ignore “such an unattractive offer” - which would see firefighters receive the statutory minimum of a week’s pay for each year of service - in the hope that a better deal materialises from brigade negotiations with the Government.

However, many firefighters approaching retirement are likely to consider quitting once full details of the scale of the cutbacks emerges on November 15.

A London FBU spokesman said: “The galling thing is that Boris decided to do a recruitment drive about a year and a half ago, when everyone knew the cuts were coming.

“The fact he recruited 200 firefighters is either down to the complete incompetence of senior staff or so he could boast before the mayoral election.”

Firefighters are not said to be at immediate risk of compulsory redundancy, with the majority of cuts expected to be made through voluntary redundancy and early retirement.

A London Fire Brigade spokesman said: “Like virtually every other public service, the brigade is facing the need to make savings.

“We have been given a target for these savings, and we are currently considering our response to this. All options are being considered but no decisions have yet been made.”

Andrew Dismore, a Labour member of the London Assembly, said he would use tomorrow’s Mayor’s question time at City Hall to demand Mr Johnson thinks again about the “unacceptable” cuts.

Mr Dismore said: “I think it’s outrageous they are doing this in advance of any decision on next year’s budget. What will they do if firefighters say we have had enough of this shenanigans? I also think it’s ridiculous civilian staff have been offered better terms than firefighters.”

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