‘Bleak’ future for North Yorkshire fire service due to underfunding

North Yorkshire’s fire and rescue service faces a bleak outlook due to chronic underfunding, systemic on-call staffing shortages, crumbling buildings and out of date vehicles, a meeting has heard,

North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime panel was told the Office of the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and the fire service, which serves about 824,000 people across the county, was working “exceptionally hard” to break even this year.

Chief financial officer Michael Porter told the meeting the service would be drawing on £638,000 of reserves to balance the books until April, but “next year is looking like it is going to be really challenging”.

Mr Porter said a £390,000 deficit had initially been forecast for 2022/23 from reserves to balance the 2022/23 budget, but that was likely to deepen significantly due to pay awards, soaring utility bills and increases in national insurance contributions.

The meeting heard unless restrictions on fire services increasing their council tax demands were eased by the government, the service would need to make more savings. Mr Porter said:

“There’s an awful lot of additional pressures that are lining up for the fire service for next year. Initial views on the settlement for next year are that it is probably not as generous as it has been for the police and the police have more scope to increase precept.”

The meeting heard members question why some £365,000 had been spent on “minor works” to fire service buildings, before hearing they were built as medium-term premises up to 70 years ago and constructed with interiors designed for a different time, when there were few female firefighters.

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Mr Porter said the service’s 30 buildings across the county and its fleet of vehicles had been significantly under-invested in for some time.

“There are a significant number of properties within the estate that are in dire need of replacement, as opposed to maintenance. The longer that we leave it or are unable to replace the buildings, the more we will have to spend patching them up.

“We have got an aged estate that doesn’t meet modern requirements and standards it is an inhibitor of what the organisation wants to do as it moves forward. We almost have to borrow every single penny we have to invest in the capital programme as it is. It is not a rosy picture.”

Sharing buildings

The meeting was told the fire service was considering sharing more buildings with other emergency services to cut costs, but the fire service needed to have bases spread across the county to reach emergencies in good time.

City of York Council leader Councillor Keith Aspden told the meeting recruitment issues over on-call firefighters had persisted for a long time, but overall funding was the key issue.

“Every time I see the fire minister I ask about capital grants for fire services and precept flexibility.  Unless something happens nationally things are going to get very difficult, particularly for services like this with relatively small budgets and rural areas.”

Interim Chief Fire Officer Jon Foster told members on-call recruitment remained a challenge due to changes in people’s lifestyles and covid had further impacted on it.

He said the service was examining changing terms and conditions and flexibility of being an on-call firefighter as the system was very outdated, paying a small amount for being available and a larger amount to attend calls.

After the meeting, the panel’s chair, Councillor Carl Les said:

“I think the situation is bleak. The fundamental problem is the overall funding for the fire and rescue service.

“Arguments will be made that the government grant could and should be increased, but also the fact that the precept regime with the fire and rescue service is very limited.

“I think we need to lobby the government that for small rural forces like North Yorkshire it would be useful if there was flexibility to go above the two per cent increase cap and levy an extra £5 or £10.

“We know that delivering services in rural areas is more expensive than delivering services in cities.

“For a number of years resources have been difficult to find to allocate for things like buildings and machinery that are getting older.”

Keith Tordoff launches police commissioner campaign in Harrogate

Pateley Bridge man Keith Tordoff held a media launch in Harrogate this morning for his campaign to become the next North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner.

Mr Tordoff, who is standing as an Independent candidate, said he was the man to regain people’s trust after the resignation of Philip Allott.

His manifesto is based on the slogan “safer streets for all”. He said he would find ways to protect vulnerable people and increase public confidence in the police and fire services.

Mr Tordoff said he wanted officers to spend more time on foot talking to people and look at how police deal with areas of persistent anti-social behaviour.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, he said:

“It is very important that we give people confidence that we have safer streets for all. There’s plenty we need to do to achieve this, to show we’re listening to them and doing something about it.”

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Mr Tordoff served as a police officer in Leeds for 20 years and said this set him apart from the other candidates, and would enable him to find practical ways to bring improvements.

Besides working for the police, Mr Tordoff, who has won the support of the Yorkshire Party, also has a business background having served as chairman of Nidderdale Chamber of Trade and owned the sweet shop in Pateley Bridge.

He added:

“North Yorkshire needs strong leadership that can work with everyone, that’s why I’m independent.”

Election on November 25

The commissioner’s role is to hold the county’s chief constable and chief fire officer to account.

The by-election will take place on November 25. Applications to vote by post must be submitted by 5pm on Wednesday 10th, while proxy vote applications must be entered by 5pm on Wednesday 17th.

Mr Tordoff finished third when the role was last contested in May. Turnout then was 25%.

He is standing again following the resignation of Mr Allott in the wake of comments made about the murder of Sarah Everard.

The full list of candidates is:

Hannah Barham-Brown, Women’s Equality Party

James Barker, Liberal Democrats

Zoë Metcalfe, Conservatives

Emma Scott-Spivey, Labour

Keith Tordoff, Independent

Harrogate fire crew helps toddler with toilet seat stuck on head

Harrogate firefighters came to the aid of a toddler yesterday evening after he was brought to the fire station with a toilet seat stuck on his head.

The two-year-old arrived at Harrogate fire station, on Skipton Road, with his parents just after 7pm.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service’s incident log said:

“Crews disassembled the seat so that it could be removed from the child’s head.”

Small tools were used to remove the seat before the boy was sent on his way.

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Pub owners ‘devastated’ after overnight fire in Harrogate district

A country pub near Boroughbridge is closed indefinitely after fire broke out in the early hours of this morning.

Firefighters from Ripon, Thirsk, Knaresborough and Harrogate were summoned to the Ship Inn at Aldborough after a fire alarm went off in the kitchen at about 2am.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue’s incident log said:

“Crews discovered a fire in the kitchen believed to have originated from a tumble dryer.”

“Crews used 2 hose reel jets, one covering jet, four breathing apparatus, thermal imaging cameras, one short extension ladder, positive pressure ventilation (fan) and lighting to extinguish the fire and assist them with the incident.”

The Stray Ferret called the pub this morning and a woman, who did not leave her name, said:

“It was an electrical fire. At the moment we are closed and need to assess the damage.

“It’s absolutely devastating — after everything that’s happened with covid and now this.”

The pub, run by Brian and Elaine Rey, made headlines in 2011 when Princes William and Harry were among a group of 16 that visited for a friend’s wedding. Kate Middleton was also present.

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Summerbridge woman gets trapped in loft

A woman in Summerbridge needed rescuing from her loft when the hatch closed and she was unable to get out.

A postman was alerted to the danger when he heard the woman shouting for help shortly after 11am yesterday.

Firefighters from the nearby Summerbridge station rushed to the house and managed to get in through a window using a triple extension ladder.

They were then able to rescue the woman, who has not been named, from the loft.

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Youths set fire to roof in Harrogate

Two fire crews were called to Ainsty Road in Harrogate last night following reports that youths had set fire to the roof of a building.

When firefighters arrived just after 6pm, they found two chairs on fire in the car park as well as the roof fire, which had already gone out.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service said in its incident log:

“Crews extinguished the fire and passed the details of the incident onto the police.”

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Later on last night, Harrogate firefighters responded to reports of a young person on a roof believed to be under the influence of alcohol.

The incident, on Forest Lane, happened around 12.30am this morning.

The young man was already down from the roof and with police when the firefighters arrived.

Blaze in Harrogate district barns with 150 tonnes of straw bales

Two barns containing 150 tonnes of straw bales in Green Hammerton went up in flames just after 10pm last night.

Firefighters from Acomb, Knaresborough, York, Harrogate and Boroughbridge rushed to the scene and some are still on site this morning.

They used large jets to bring the fire under control and then focused on letting the fire burn out safely, according to a spokesman for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

The spokesman told the Stray Ferret the firefighters were expected to remain on site for several hours today until the fire was completely extinguished. He added:

“We are still at the stage of controlling it and monitoring it. The investigation into the cause will start when that is done.”

There are typically about 40 bales of straw in a tonne, which indicates the scale of last night’s fire. Nobody is believed to have been hurt..

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Ripon police and fire station gets £1.2m upgrade

Philip Allott, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, has announced a £1,162,000 upgrade for the building shared by Ripon’s police and fire officers since 2018.

The spending will improve facilities deemed ‘no longer fit for purpose’ at the Stonebridgegate site.

Following a fact-finding visit to the city in June, Mr Allott (pictured below) said he would give police officers the resources they needed to tackle crime.

A statement, which has now been issued by his office, said plans for refurbishment had stalled due to ‘site complications’.

It added:

“This has now come to a head and the current accommodation is no longer fit for purpose for either service.”

Under the county’s previous crime commissioner, Julia Mulligan, the city’s former police station on North Street was sold to a private developer.

In 2014, a conditional agreement for the disposal was signed and North Yorkshire Police pledged to provide new ‘fit for purpose’ premises within 18 months.

But this did not materialise and in February 2018 the Ripon policing team moved to the fire station.

This subsequently raised concerns among city councillors and members of the public about the ability of the police, with its limited resources and cramped accommodation, to handle a spike in anti-social behaviour, vandalism and other crime.

The statement issued by Mr Allott’s office added:

“An options assessment has been conducted to develop a suitable solution in conjunction with key stakeholders across the two services.

“A modular build on the current site to provide accommodation, with continued use of the appliance bays and tower, has been determined as the most suitable option which delivers a good medium-term solution in a reasonable timescale, and which provides the best value for money to the public purse.”

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Park Parade to close for fire service exercise next week

North Yorkshire fire crews will be taking part in a training exercise next weekend at Park Parade tackling emergencies in high rise buildings.

On Sunday, August 15, North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service is asking people to avoid the area as they carry out simulated incidents.

Between 10am and 1pm the area will be coned off and the crews will use the new 45m aerial ladder platform from Harrogate fire station.

The training means fire crews can plan how they would react to a fire in a high rise building.

The crews may also use cosmetic smoke around the Park Place Apartments.

The fire service has asked people not to gather around the area, due to high numbers of covid cases.

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Quick-thinking Little Ouseburn farmer averts field fire

A quick-thinking farmer averted a potentially major field fire yesterday when a straw baler went up in flames on land near Little Ouseburn.

Firefighters from Knaresborough and Acomb were summoned when the baler caught fire at about 2pm yesterday.

When the fire crews arrived, the farmer had already managed to unhook the tractor from the baler and another farmer had ploughed a fire break around the flames to prevent the fire spreading.

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service‘s incident log said the quick intervention prevented the fire spreading throughout the field. The farmers involved are not named.

The incident log said the cause of the fire was believed to be a mechanical fault. It added:

“The crews extinguished the fire using two hose reel jets and three breathing apparatus.”

In a separate incident yesterday, an unattended barbecue is believed to have been responsible for a fire in Harrogate’s Great Yorkshire Showground, which spread to a tree, causing minor damage before it was extinguished.

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