SCOTTISH firefighters are “extremely disappointed” at the government’s failure to fund an expansion of their duties, the Fire Brigades Union (FBU) said today.

An increase in both resource and capital spending for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service was announced in the Budget earlier this month.

But the amount was nowhere near enough to address a backlog of property repairs and upgrades needed across the crumbling fire service estate, the FBU warned.

“Just as concerning was the continued failure to fund firefighter role expansion,” it added.

“If implemented, role expansion could see firefighters deal with issues [outside] their current duties, including responding to cardiac arrests or terror-related incidents.

“Such a development could reduce the pressure on the Scottish Ambulance Service and the NHS.”

Role expansion has been agreed in principle by the FBU and the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

FBU regional secretary John McKenzie said: “Whilst we welcome an increase in the capital and resource budget we are extremely disappointed that once again Scottish ministers have kicked role expansion down the road. 

“They repeatedly tell us they are committed to genuine public-sector reform, yet here we have a project that could deliver tangible benefits to the public and they run away from it for the third year in succession.

“My message to the government is this: the FBU stands ready to negotiate a workable plan that we can present to our members and which would result in real improvements to the emergency response to serious incidents.

“As a priority, the government should stop prevaricating and allocate resources to this project once and for all.”

A Scottish government spokesperson said the service’s £18.8 million budget increase, to £412.1m next year, will enable it to “continue to deliver the high standard of services required to keep communities safe.”