MODEST increases to Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) funding “won’t touch the sides” after years of cuts, the FBU warned today.

The latest Scottish government Budget — which passed its final Holyrood hurdle on Tuesday — included an increase in cash for SFRS from its £393.4 million settlement in 2024-25 to £412.2m in the coming year.

The FBU however warned that this increase will be wiped out by inflation and falls well short of what is needed in a service which has lost 1,200 firefighter posts in 13 years and increasingly operates from “crumbling buildings.”