Meeting of the Parliament 09 June 2026 [Last updated 15:32]
The short answer is yes. I am happy to meet Ms Minto or any other member to discuss the matter further. The challenge of multiple organisations drawing on small rural populations is not new. The SFRS works collaboratively with a range of partners, including the coastguard service, on response and resilience in rural areas. Many fire stations share facilities with organisations such as the coastguard, and Scotland’s safety and resilience rely on people carrying out roles such as that of an on-call firefighter. I am grateful to the men and women who carry out those roles for doing so. The SFRS is flexible when setting on-call periods so that, wherever possible, multiple volunteer roles can be accommodated. I am very familiar with that, given my island upbringing—as Ms Minto will be, given her experience as a constituency MSP.