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08
Apr
Mayor outlines new plan for fire and rescue services
North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service will be expected to adapt to deal with a wider range of emergencies in the coming years under a new county-wide plan.
Tackling the causes of fires, improving safety in buildings, preparing communities for emergencies and investing in new equipment and staff are among the aims of the Fire and Rescue Plan.
York and North Yorkshire mayor David Skaith and deputy mayor Jo Coles said the plan recognised firefighters’ roles were changing, with climate change expected to increase call outs flooding.
Jonathan Dyson, the service’s chief fire officer, said they were investing in new fire appliances such as vehicles and training for staff to make it fit for the future.
The plan, which sets out York and North Yorkshire’s Combined Authority’s priorities for the service up to 2029, was launched yesterday (April 7).
The plan, launched at Easingwold’s Fire Station and Training Centre following a public consultation, is based on priorities including targeted prevention, protecting buildings and providing an effective emergency response.
The priorities
Priorities in the plan also include helping communities to prepare for and recovery from emergencies and other major disruptions, supporting staff and making the service financially sustainable.
Work on the priorities is set to include working with people and communities most at-risk of fires and those in rural areas where service response times are typically longer.
The plan includes work to respond to new fire risks including from e-scooters and e-bikes and an aim to get more national funding for flood defences.
It also includes dealing with buildings that do not comply with fire safety rules and acting on changes recommended by the inquiry into the 2017 Grenfell Tower fire.
The possibility of building affordable homes on fire station land for staff is also set to be explored as part of efforts to recruit and retain more firefighters.
Work is also set to take place to make communities more aware of potential hazards and how to respond and with businesses to encourage more people to become on-call firefighters.
Efforts to modernise fire stations and to recruit a more diverse range of firefighters are also planned along with investment to make the service more efficient.
Labour mayor Mr Skaith told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the plan aimed to overcome challenges including North Yorkshire’s geography which made responding to call outs harder than in elsewhere.
He added this year’s hike in the fire and rescue precept, equivalent to a 28 per cent increase or £24 compared to 2024-5, was necessary after years of under-investment.
The mayor said:
The service needs to adapt and invest in estates, equipment and staff, investing to make it more efficient will have a positive knock-on effect.
The calls that the service is dealing with now are changing, over the last 10 to 15 years we’ve seen firefighters responding to much more flooding and the influx of visitors North Yorkshire gets every year particularly in coastal areas also adds pressure.
Firefighters will always respond to call outs for fires but prevention aims to reduce the amount of call outs and investment and training aims to prepare the service for the future.
Deputy mayor for Fire Jo Coles told the LDRS the plan also aimed to cut road deaths, with firefighters increasingly responding to traffic accidents. The Labour deputy mayor said:
Road safety is a big issue for the service, 32 people died on the roads last year and we’ve had 11 deaths this year and we’re only in April.
Every death is a tragedy and we want to work to raise awareness of road hazards to meet the aim of having zero people killed or seriously injured.
Mr Dyson said he welcomed the public’s participation in drawing up the Fire and Rescue Plan through a consultation which more than 1,600 people took part in.
The officer told LDRS:
A long time ago the service saw a reduction in house fires but we’ve seen an increase in other types of emergencies which is concerning.
We’re investing in the service, including in new equipment to protect firefighters, and we’re working to make sure our staff have the best possible employment experience, welfare and support.
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