FBU offered new deal in bid to avert strike

Ministers this weekend renewed hopes of a better deal for firefighters, hinting at pay rises of up to 19 per cent, and more government money for the service.

The move is seen as an attempt to avert further strikes. At the end of last year the Fire Brigades Union took 10 days of strike action, and it has vowed to return to the picket lines on 21 January for a one-day stoppage if a pay deal is not reached.

Sources insist union members are still "hugely angry" over previous offers and have branded the most recent deal – of 11 per cent pay increases over two years, linked to modernisation, and 4,200 job losses by 2007 – "the worst ever".

Six days of talks with the conciliation service Acas are scheduled to start on Tuesday and both sides are due to meet on Monday to agree positions.

Sir Jeremy Beecham, chair of the Local Government Association, said he hoped the FBU delegation would turn up for face-to-face talks. But he made it clear, in an interview with the BBC, that any pay rises would be linked to modernisation based on Sir George Bain's report.

The FBU remains hostile to the Bain report's recommendations. A source said: "Our members only have to look at [it] and it makes them angry. There isn't a union on this planet that would sign up to job losses without negotiations on pay."

But Nick Raynsford, the minister for the Fire Service, held out an olive branch this weekend, saying there was scope for negotiating beyond the 11 per cent deal.

Asked if the Government could accept a three-year deal as high as 19 per cent, Mr Raynsford said: "Providing that it was paid for out of the modernisation savings, we would be happy with a deal that delivered significant pay increases for firefighters."

Mr Raynsford said the Government would be prepared to provide more cash to make a deal work. "We are prepared to provide a certain amount of pump-priming money in the early stages, providing the deal does pay its way over three years."