Your World of Legal Intelligence
 United Kingdom | +44 (0) 20 7284 8080

Region sees sharp fall in numbers of firefighters What government says...

Document Cited in Related
Vincent
Published date15 June 2022
Publication titleHuddersfield Daily Examiner
It is one of more than 20 areas across England to see the number of firefighters and control room staff dwindle since the tragic fire at the London tower block on June 14, 2017, which claimed the lives of 72 people

There was a combined total of 1,106 full-time firefighters, on-call firefighters and control staff at West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service at the end of March last year, the latest available Home Office figures show. That was down by 61 (5.2%) from 1,167 four years earlier, which was the last workforce count before the Grenfell fire.

It means West Yorkshire saw the joint ninth-biggest drop of any of the 44 fire and rescue services across the country over that time. London Fire Brigade saw the figure rise by 45, from 4,799 to 4,844.

The fall was driven by the declining number of full-time firefighters, offset slightly by the rising number of on-call firefighters and control staff, who answer 999 calls.

People across West Yorkshire have been urged to give their views on fire services in the county as part of a 10-week consultation, which ended on June 6.

Responses from the public will be fed into West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service's three-year Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) to be published this summer.

The CRMP will outline how to keep the public safe and how fire service resources are "in the right place at the right time".

Area manager Matt Walker said: "In the past CRMPs have been based around refining the service to meet financial constraints. The current CRMP is based around new ways of working and engaging with communities to focus on protection. It's not about removing services. It's about enhancing services we've already got."

A shake-up of fire services in West Yorkshire means the closure of the station in Cleckheaton, where the Hightown Road site will be shut. Staff and facilities will be relocated to the headquarters at...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT