Tuesday June 23rd 2026
Hawick Fire Station
Written by Local Democracy Reporter, Paul Kelly
Hawick councillors today expressed their dismay after the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Board rubber-stamped a decision to implement an “office hours” working pattern at the town’s fire station.
It follows an extensive nationwide Service Delivery Review undertaken as part of continuing work to “modernise the service and ensure operational resources are matched to changing risk and demand”.
When the board met on Monday, June 22, it rubber-stamped a raft of recommendations, including the introduction of a day-shift duty system (DSDS) at the Howdenbank station.
It means that fire-fighters at Hawick Fire Station will no longer be on site after 6pm.
The new model will see essential fire crews only being available during daytime hours from 8am to 6pm on weekdays.
The after-hours and weekend cover service is to be provided by the community based on-call (formerly retained) staff.
Under the plans contingency arrangements for the entire central and southern Borders would be provided by full-time Galashiels-based crews.
The Scottish Fire & Rescue Service say the move is being made as a result of the need to make “essential operational efficiencies and to address budget constraints”.
Hawick and Hermitage councillor Watson McAteer, the convener of Scottish Borders Council, said: “I am bitterly disappointed and quite disgusted at the lack of response from the Scottish Government.
“It has been ten months since we had the huge consultation meeting at the town hall in Hawick where there was unanimous support to reject the review proposals.
“They have waited ten months and nothing has changed with the original proposals left, despite the Fire Service telling us there has been extensive consultation and that they have considered and viewed the points made by the community before making the decision, which is clearly and blatantly wrong.
“They have not listened, they have continued to do what they intended to do.
“I wrote to both the chair of the Fire & Rescue board and to the minister responsible for victims and community safety and got a quick response back from the chair, which was acceptable, but I got nothing at all from Scottish Government.
“The Scottish Fire & Rescue Service are appointed by the Scottish Government, so there’s no hiding behind ‘it’s the board’s decision’ – the board is appointed by the Scottish Government.
“This is beyond disappointment, it’s unacceptable.”
Mr McAteer’s views were echoed by Hawick and Denholm councillor Stuart Marshall, who added: “The entire public consultation exercise has been a complete waste of time and clearly the board hasn’t taken one view into consideration.
“Those of whom I represent are quite rightly furious and appalled by this decision.
“This is an emergency service that’s being stripped back in Hawick and I have real concerns that lives will undoubtedly be lost.
“The SFRS have always said it’s not about cost-cutting, it’s about modernisation and I for one strongly disagree with that view.
“The strength of feeling and anger within my community has been totally disregarded and the impact these cuts will have within Hawick and its rural areas will be felt for a long time to come.”
Following the board’s decisions, individual consultation will now be undertaken with each affected employee in line with existing SFRS policies and procedures.
Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Chief Officer Stuart Stevens said: “The Service Delivery Review is a critical programme to modernise how we work and deliver long-term sustainability.
“Its primary purpose is to ensure that we meet emerging risk and demand across Scotland, while enabling us to address urgent property issues.
“These changes are the start of a strategic redesign of the service to improve outcomes for the communities of Scotland.
“We recognise that this process has been challenging and, at times, emotive for our staff and communities where changes are proposed.
“There have been extensive efforts to engage with staff and communities to fully understand their views. We have taken great care to analyse the feedback received and ensured it has been given thorough and considered attention.”
The public consultation ran for a period of 12 weeks and closed in September 2025.
This involved 40 public events across Scotland and received more than 3,600 responses.
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