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09
Jul
Harrogate fire crew changes have saved £120,000, report says
About £120,000 of taxpayers’ money has been saved due to changes to Harrogate fire crew arrangements brought in last year, according to a new report.
The figure appears in the York and North Yorkshire combined authority’s draft Fire and Rescue annual report for 2025-26, which has been published ahead of a meeting of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel.
Before the combined authority was established in 2024, the then Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, Conservative Zoe Metcalfe, planned to replace the second fire engine at Harrogate, known as a tactical response vehicle (TRV), with a standard B-type fire engine.
This would be crewed during the daytime only, where demand is at its peak, instead of using the existing 24-hour shift system. The first fire engine in Harrogate would remain available day and night.
Harrogate Fire Station.
The changes were scheduled for implementation from April 2024. But in September 2023, the Fire Brigades Union said it would not accept the proposal on safety grounds.
So once the combined authority for Yorkshire and North Yorkshire took over responsibility for these matters, the current deputy mayor for policing, fire and crime, Labour's Jo Coles, approved amended plans to ensure that the station’s second standard fire engine would remain available during the day and continue to provide overnight cover through an on-call pager alert system. The station’s first fire engine would continue to provide 24/7 cover.
The aim of these new arrangements, which were introduced on July 1, 2025, was to strengthen operational resilience and improve emergency response.
Now, a six-month review has found that they are delivering measurable benefits, according to the draft annual report.
It states:
The availability of the second fire engine has increased significantly from 74% to 97%. The changes have enhanced fire cover, while generating annual savings of approximately £120,000.
The draft Fire and Rescue annual report for 2025-26 will be considered by the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Panel at its next meeting next Thursday, July 16.
The panel comprises 10 elected representatives drawn from North Yorkshire Council and the City of York, in addition to three people co-opted as independent ‘community’ members.
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