Last week we were contacted by the national employers secretariat providing  details of the pay offer of 3.20 per cent made to the employees’ side of the National Joint Council (NJC). The FBU Executive has recommended acceptance of the offer. 

It is clear that this pay offer is on the back of the proposal brokered by UNISON, GMB and Unite on behalf of its green book employees, which is the exact same increase proposed a few days earlier. It falls below the 4.0 per cent offered by the teachers’ pay review body but is in line with the consumer price inflation forecast from the Office of Budget Responsibility for 2025/26.

There are however a few additional points within the pay proposal, these are:

• • • The removal of the trainee rates of pay from all NJC pay scales from 1 July 2025
    • A very clear commitment to an on-going dialogue around Grey Book pay reform
    • To improve the Grey Book provision around “notice periods”

Trainee Role

It has become apparent that should there be the expected increase in the minimum living wage in April 2026, the current trainee rate of pay would be below the national living wage. Rather than increase the trainee rate of pay by an amount that’s more than 3.20 per cent with the complexities that would be associated with such a move, it is being proposed that the trainee rate of pay is removed altogether and the individuals entering the fire service would automatically be paid at the development rate of pay.

Our view is that while this was predictable in previous rounds of pay negotiations, it is a pragmatic proposal and overcomes a complex problem.

Grey book pay reform

The FRSA is sceptical of any talk about national pay reform, principally due to the fact that this has been mooted for a number of years without any discernible action being taken. We have long since advocated for the need for pay reform to broaden the role and open up funding streams that are currently closed due to the narrow focus on the role of a firefighter.

Notice periods

We welcome the proposed amendment to extend the notice period given to an employee by the employer whereby after the first 3 months of employment the period increases from one to four weeks for both sides.

After four years of employment, the employer’s responsibility would continue to grow

in line with the ERA statutory responsibilities (i.e. up to 12 weeks’ notice for 12 or more years’ service.

This amendment will not override any local agreements made with individual fire authorities and the recognised trade unions.

FRSA view on pay offer 

As a member led union, our response to the pay offer will be shaped by members, but the Executive Board are of the view that the offer of 3.20 per cent is acceptable given the circumstances in which it has been made. However, this is an unfunded pay offer. This continues to be problematic in that unfunded pay rises will need to be offset by cost efficiencies being made elsewhere. These can be in the form of job losses, station closures and duty system reviews, and will continue to be the case until the pay structure of the fire service is reformed to include long-term funding over a 3-5 year period, providing stability within the sector allowing strategic plans to be made. A business case is needed to be compiled to broaden the role of a firefighter unlocking funding from other areas of national and local government and a widening of its statutory function to cover flooding, climate change and medical response.

All of this the FRSA has championed for many years, the reason being, rather than continue to witness the dwindling establishment levels across the country due to falling call levels, the sector needs to be widening its role within the communities which in turn will open up a wider pool of candidates interested in joining the service and making it a more attractive proposition to remain in the sector with broadening skills.

We will continue to campaign for this much needed reform on behalf of our members as it remains clear that the current NJC arrangements are not equipped to deliver change that all firefighters across the UK deserve.

New Grey Book is published

Finally, the NJC has published a revised Grey Book (seventh edition) which is the first official revised document since 2004 when the sixth edition was published.

This Grey Book encompasses all of the changes over the preceding years which have previously been contained in NJC and employer circulars and now helpfully keeps them in one place. The seventh edition is available to our members via our FRSA App.