Will the Bain review settle the fire strike?

Job cuts are likely, warns the Deputy Prime Minister

Breakfast's main story this morning (Monday) is the publication of the long-awaited Bain report into fire fighters' pay and working conditions.

And it's not expected to make happy reading for union leaders, who have already called more strikes for the New Year.

It's thought Sir George Bain's report will recommend an eleven per cent increase in pay but only if firefighters agree to major changes in working practices.

This morning on Breakfast, we brought you the latest on the Bain review.

We asked for your views.

click here to go straight to our Your Comments section

At 7.10am, we spoke to Mark Watt, who's a fireman in Cardiff.

"The Bain report is a distraction," he told us. "We have started this and we will finish it - hopefully Acas will sort something out."

click here to watch Mark Watt's interview on Breakfast in full

Full details from BBC News Online

The review, chaired by Sir George Bain, is likely to fuel the ongoing pay dispute - which has already seen three strikes, with two more planned for the new year.

On the same day, Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott is expected to warn in Parliament that job cuts in the fire service of up to 20% are likely.

Sir George is expected to recommend an 11% pay increase, heavily linked to modernisation.

It is not independent and the interim report published last month was wholly biased

FBU

He had sketched out these plans in an interim report published last month.

But the firefighters' union rejected that offer as "derisory and insulting".

The 160-page full report will call for two-year pay settlements in the fire service, in line with deals elsewhere in the public sector.

The review is expected to recommend an immediate pay rise of 4% with a further increase of 7% next year, depending on changes to working practices.

'Irrelevant'

The Fire Brigades Union originally called for 40% but has since indicated it would settle for 16%.

The government is likely to support the recommendations made by Sir George.

The FBU, which boycotted the review, said on Sunday the new report was "irrelevant".

Expected recommendations

More flexible shift patterns

Fewer staff at night

Allowing overtime

Small number of job cuts

Joint control rooms with other emergency services

Paramedic training allowed

"It is not independent and the interim report published last month was wholly biased. It is of little interest to us," said one official.

The FBU said it was much more interested in Mr Prescott's forthcoming statement on job cuts.

The deputy prime minister sparked a row last month by warning that about 10,000 firefighters jobs - about a fifth of the fire service - could be cut in the next few years.

He is expected to warn in the Commons that job cuts are extremely likely - even though the Bain report is believed to have concluded that there was no need for major job losses.

New stoppages

The union has called off a number of strikes in recent weeks so that peace talks with the local authority employers could be held at the conciliation service Acas.

But it has set two 48-hours stoppages, on 28 January and 1 February, if the dispute is still deadlocked.

Firefighters numbers

Currently about 55,000

11,000 expected to retire within three years

Not replacing 4,000 would save £100m

Union leaders will hold talks with Acas officials on Thursday, and face-to-face negotiations with the employers will begin until the second week in January.

The employers will hold separate talks with Acas this week, and officials expect to make a new offer to the union in the new year.

The employers have previously demanded the changes outlined in the preliminary Bain report in return for a pay rise.

But the FBU has rejected such changes.

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