Chamber
Meeting of the Parliament 01 October 2025 [Draft]
01 Oct 2025 · S6 · Meeting of the Parliament
Item of business
Protecting Scotland’s Fire Service
I will get to that.
Climate change is contributing to warmer, drier conditions, which increase the likelihood and intensity of wildfires. As I said yesterday,
“Shifts in weather patterns, such as those that led to last week’s wildfire danger warning and this week’s yellow warning for rain, reinforce the climate challenges that we currently face.”—[Official Report, 30 September 2025; c 8.]
With that has come a change in the risks to our communities, as incidents such as those of flooding and wildfires increase. Our firefighters are trained to respond to both those types of incident, but the change illustrates the need for the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service to be adaptable to such risks. That is why it is right that the fire service carefully considers how its services are delivered, to ensure that they are configured in the right way, and that it adapts to changing risks to remain effective and efficient, with firefighters in the right place at the right time.
Not adapting and changing over time—
In the same item of business
The Deputy Presiding Officer (Annabelle Ewing)
SNP
The next item of business is a debate on motion S6M-19124, in the name of Katy Clark, on protecting Scotland’s fire service. I invite members who wish to spe...
Katy Clark (West Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
Scottish Labour has lodged the motion because the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is in a state of crisis. The Fire Brigades Union Scotland has been warning...
Rachael Hamilton (Ettrick, Roxburgh and Berwickshire) (Con)
Con
Does the Labour Party believe that rural areas could be disproportionately affected by the proposals from the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, because they ...
Katy Clark
Lab
Rachael Hamilton makes her point well, and I agree. The plans that have been outlined would further damage the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and add to t...
The Minister for Victims and Community Safety (Siobhian Brown)
SNP
The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, which has been a single national service since 2013, is one of Scotland’s success stories. We have a successful emergen...
Rhoda Grant (Highlands and Islands) (Lab)
Lab
I join the minister in paying tribute to our firefighters, who do a wonderful job. However, in regions such as mine—the Highlands and Islands—less than 10 pe...
Siobhian Brown
SNP
The bill that became the Police and Fire Reform (Scotland) Act 2012 was supported by Labour at the time. The reduction in the number of firefighters is prima...
Katy Clark
Lab
Will the minister be addressing the concerning increases in response and call-handling times?
Siobhian Brown
SNP
I will get to that. Climate change is contributing to warmer, drier conditions, which increase the likelihood and intensity of wildfires. As I said yesterda...
Sarah Boyack (Lothian) (Lab)
Lab
Will the minister take an intervention?
Siobhian Brown
SNP
I would like to make some progress. Continuing to keep everything the same for decades would not be efficient or effective and would not ensure that taxpaye...
Liam Kerr (North East Scotland) (Con)
Con
Will the minister give way?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
The minister will be concluding shortly.
Siobhian Brown
SNP
I must make some progress. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service plans to redeploy resources that are freed up by making changes to front-line delivery to pr...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Minister, you need to bring your remarks to a close.
Siobhian Brown
SNP
I conclude by saying something about response times—that is really important because, if anything about that is misconstrued, it can cause public fear. The S...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
Minister, you need to conclude and move your amendment.
Siobhian Brown
SNP
Thank you, Presiding Officer. I will try to update Parliament more in my closing speech. I move amendment S6M-19124.2, to leave out from “expresses” to end ...
Sharon Dowey (South Scotland) (Con)
Con
I thank Katy Clark for securing this important debate for the chamber. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service is a life-saving organisation, which protects pe...
Siobhian Brown
SNP
Will Sharon Dowey take an intervention?
Sharon Dowey
Con
Would I get the time back, Presiding Officer?
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
There is no time in hand.
Sharon Dowey
Con
I am sorry. Wildfires are on the rise. Newer developments such as recycling centres and battery energy storage systems also present a fresh challenge. Scotl...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
I invite Maggie Chapman to open on behalf of the Scottish Greens. 16:18
Maggie Chapman (North East Scotland) (Green)
Green
I begin by paying tribute to all of Scotland’s firefighters—our fireys—who put themselves in harm’s way every day to protect us; to their families who live w...
Liam McArthur (Orkney Islands) (LD)
LD
I thank Katy Clark for lodging the motion for debate, which provides an opportunity to highlight the central role that the fire service plays in protecting c...
The Deputy Presiding Officer
SNP
We move to the open debate. 16:26
Richard Leonard (Central Scotland) (Lab)
Lab
What is taking place in our communities is not a Scottish Fire and Rescue Service delivery review—it is an experiment, and it is one which, as a matter of pu...
Stuart McMillan (Greenock and Inverclyde) (SNP)
SNP
This is an important debate. I took part in the public consultation and have informed my constituents that I do not support the proposals for Inverclyde. To ...
Liam Kerr
Con
Will the member take an intervention?