THE Fire Brigades Union has condemned “abject failures” in Scotland’s single fire service as it passed a unanimous vote of no confidence in the chief officer and his senior leadership team.

Union leaders said the merging of eight regional fire services in 2013 had led to an increasing inability to cope – with members’ concerns going unanswered.

Chris McGlone, Scotland's most senior FBU official, said “unprecedented” problems saw 27 full-time engines sitting unable to be crewed on Christmas Day due to a lack of staff.

He said there were still no formal arrangements in place to deal with terrorist incidents, and warned a disaster could make the service’s ongoing difficulties all too clear.

He added: “All we can see are failures and a worsening of the situation. We can’t understand where the [leadership] are getting their optimism from, and the confidence to say that the single service so far has been a success.”

The FBU said the vote came after its members repeatedly raised concerns over the availability of fire engines and the continuing reliance on overtime to crew appliances.

It said it is of the "firm belief" that the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) has had many opportunities to resolve these issues but has made no satisfactory improvements.

As a result, FBU members tabled a vote of no confidence in chief officer Alasdair Hay and his senior leadership team which was passed unanimously at an emergency meeting of the Scottish regional committee.

Mr McGlone said there were ongoing concerns over plans for a radical transformation of the service, which would see firefighters take on an expanded role tackling terrorism and providing emergency medical care. He said he was not confident the SFRS had the physical capacity to cope with such an expansion.

And he insisted attempts to negotiate a “harmonization” of terms and conditions across the single fire service had been a failure, leaving to variations in salary levels.

But Kirsty Darwent, chair of the SFRS board, said she was “perplexed” by the union’s position, adding: “This comes less than one week into a public consultation on proposals, which could see the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service transform to save more lives.

"The Fire Brigades Union is preventing 7,500 of Scotland's firefighters – many of whom are not FBU members – being given a real chance to do so much more for our communities, and be paid 20 per cent more to do so.

"We have always been committed to dialogue. Indeed, since June last year have met with the FBU on 20 separate occasions to discuss harmonisation of existing terms and conditions as well as service transformation.

"Myself and the chief officer are looking forward to a meeting in London with FBU assistant general secretary, Andy Dark, which we believed had been scheduled to continue productive discussions on the future of the Service.

"We once again ask the FBU to put politics to one side, rise above their processes and their procedures and actually do what is right for their members and the communities they serve."

Scottish Conservative community safety spokesman Maurice Corry said the vote of no confidence was an “extremely worrying development”.

He added: “Firefighters would not take this action lightly, and this radical move indicates the severity of the situation.

“Men and women of the brigade do an incredibly brave and important job, and it’s vital they’re supported in that by both the Fire Service management and the Scottish Government.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “The talks between the SFRS and the FBU are on-going and are not concluded. It is important that the SRFS and FBU continue to engage at this crucial time for the service.”