The text also incorporates one of the measures set out in the national commitment signed in Chambéry in 2013: the indexation of allowances to the cost of living. It also makes training programmes for voluntary fire service personnel eligible for vocational training (Article 7) and makes it easier for former military personnel to undertake voluntary work. The latter will be able to receive both their allowance and their pension, which was previously prohibited (Article 6).
An A+ rating for management posts
As regards professionals, the law addresses a demand that dates back at least fifteen years: to create a functional employment status for directors and deputy directors of SDIS, who will thus move from category A to A+. This provision has already been the subject of two decrees dated 30 December 2016, and came into force on 1 January. It will open up better career prospects for professional firefighters by enabling them to enter the senior civil service. Conversely, it will make these roles more attractive and should make it easier to fill these management posts, which are all too often left vacant.
The Act also introduces a financial penalty which the SDIS will be required to pay to the CNFPT (National Centre for Local Public Service) if it fails to fill one of the management posts – director or deputy director – within three months and after rejecting six applications. The penalty is equal to “one times the amount comprising the average index-linked salary for the post in question, plus the social security contributions relating to that salary” (Article 9).
Investment support
The Act contains two significant measures relating to the funding of the SDIS. Firstly, it introduces a “grant to support structural investments in fire and rescue services” (Article 17). This provision was not included in the original text and was the subject of a government amendment designed to fulfil the promise made by François Hollande to create a €25 million support fund at the last congress of the National Federation of French Firefighters, held in Tours, on 24 September. This will help to offset the abolition of the FAI (Investment Aid Fund). As we recently reported, this allocation will in fact be financed by a levy on the departments’ overall operating grant. It is intended to support investment by the regional fire and rescue services (SDIS) that need it most.
There are also plans to introduce a little more transparency into the allocation of the State’s contribution to the SDIS (one billion out of a total budget of four billion), via the special tax on insurance contracts (TSCA). The allocation of these funds will now be published annually as an annex to the draft Finance Bill, with details for each department (Article 16).
Article 15 establishes a General Inspectorate of Civil Protection, modelled on the general inspectorates of other government departments.
All of these measures have been welcomed by the FNSPF (National Federation of French Firefighters) against a backdrop of social tension. This is all the more so as they are accompanied by a series of decrees on the revision of pay scales, a number of which have already been published in the Official Journal of 30 December 2016. However, they do not address the issue of barracks closures (121 in 2015 alone!) which was raised several times during the debates. And, as Jean-Paul Bacquet himself admits, the law will not be enough to meet the target of 200,000 volunteers by 2017 that François Hollande set in 2013.
Michel Tendil