The number of firefighters stationed in Harrogate will be cut by four in April.
The move, which will save £210,000, is part of plans to reduce the number of nighttime fire engines based in the town from two to one.
The Stray Ferret broke the news in 2022 that Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner planned to shed frontline firefighting jobs as part of her Risk and Resource Model, which sets out how fire resources will be deployed.
The proposals were later adopted despite widespread safety concerns but they have yet to be implemented.
A report that will be debated by councillors on Thursday (January 11) about setting the police and fire service precepts for the next financial year gives a brief update.
It says Harrogate will have four fewer firefighters from April this year. Scarborough is due to lose four firefighters next year, saving another £215,000. Another seven firefighters, described as ‘operational staffing reserve’, will also go in April next year, saving £375,000.
The report, which comes after Ms Metcalfe hinted council taxpayers may have to pay more for police and fire services this year, warns “finances continue to be exceptional tight”.
The Stray Ferret asked Ms Metcalfe’s office how many firefighters will remain at Harrogate after the changes take effect and whether those affected had been offered alternative roles.
A spokesperson said:
“The proposals in the precept report are in line with the consultation and decisions made in relation to the Risk and Resource Model in September 2022.
“The report to which your questions refer will be discussed at the police, fire and crime panel meeting on Thursday, January 11 and it would not be appropriate for us to provide any further information at this time.”
The North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Panel, which is a joint committee of North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council, scrutinises the performance of the commissioner.
How will it work?
Harrogate Fire Station
Currently, Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road has one fire engine which can respond to all callouts and one smaller tactical response vehicle. Both operate around the clock.
The tactical response vehicle will be replaced by a larger fire engine but it will only be crewed during the day.
Ms Metcalfe’s Risk and Resource Model said more fires occur during daytime, and having two fire engines at Harrogate would provide better daytime protection at key times.
But the second Harrogate appliance won’t be staffed between 10pm and 9am, meaning greater dependence on on-call firefighters in Knaresborough when a second fire engine is required at major incidents.
Read more:
- Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe hints at council tax increase
- Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine
Is crime commissioner Zoe Metcalfe aiming to be North Yorkshire’s first mayor?
Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, is hoping to stand for election to become the county’s first mayor, the Stray Ferret understands.
A Conservative Party source has told the Stray Ferret that Ms Metcalfe had indicated she planned to launch a bid for the party’s nomination for next year’s mayoral election.
The mayor will oversee a significant budget for York and North Yorkshire and have the power to allocate funds to areas such as transport, education and housing.
He or she will also swallow up the commissioner’s role currently occupied by Ms Metcalfe.
Ms Metcalfe has strong local connections: she was born in Ripon, educated in Harrogate and lives near Boroughbridge.
A former Harrogate borough councillor, she was elected to her commissioner’s role in 2021 with 39.5% of the vote in a by-election caused by the resignation of fellow Conservative Philip Allott following comments he made about the murder of Sarah Everard.
Since taking up the role on a salary of £74,000, she has overseen the introduction of a Risk and Resource Model for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, which sets out how resources will be deployed from 2022 to 2025.
The changes included reducing Harrogate Fire Station’s nighttime cover from two fire engines to one.
The commissioner’s role gives Ms Metcalfe a countywide profile that could enhance her prospects of winning the Conservative nomination for mayor — a new role being created as part of North Yorkshire devolution.
The Stray Ferret contacted the crime commissioner’s office asking whether Ms Metcalfe planned to stand but did not receive a response.
Read more:
- Knaresborough’s Zoe Metcalfe pledges to be ‘people’s commissioner’ in £74,000 crime role
- Long-awaited £1.2m refurbishment of Ripon’s police and fire station confirmed
Reduction in Harrogate fire engines to begin next year
The reduction in the number of fire engines crewed overnight in Harrogate looks set to be implemented next year.
Zoë Metcalfe, the Conservative North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner, today published her blueprint on how fire resources will be deployed over the next three years.
Her Risk and Resource Model includes greater investment on fire prevention and rural on-call stations. But full-time urban fire stations in Harrogate and Scarborough will see the number of appliances staffed between 10pm and 9am reduced from two to one.
They will, however, get two emergency rescue fire engines at other times, when most fires occur, rather than the current one emergency vehicle and one less well equipped tactical response vehicle.
The nighttime reduction has been criticised by unions and councillors for putting lives at risk.
But today’s report, which was published after a 12-week summer consultation, provides some consolation. It says:
“We will adjust the night staffing proposals at Harrogate and Scarborough to provide added resilience by adding an additional firefighter.”
‘Low number of incidents’
The report reveals the county’s fire and rescue service received £38.2 million funding 2022/23, of which £23.4 millions came from council taxpayers.
Two-thirds of fire stations are on-call stations where firefighters respond to a pager from home or from their work. Ripon, Knaresborough, Boroughbridge, Masham, Lofthouse and Summerbridge have on-call stations in the Harrogate district, although Ripon has a full-time crew during the day.
Fire station locations in North Yorkshire. Pic: North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner
The report says:
“Because many people do not live and work in the same community anymore, many of our on-call stations struggle to have enough firefighters available to respond, especially during the day when demand is highest.”
It also says “many of our fire engines attend a relatively low number of incidents”. In the year to March, 31 2022, firefighters attended 7,594 incidents, of which 1,742 were fires, 2,485 incidents classed as ‘special services’ and 3,367 false alarms.
‘Reduce the need for an emergency response’
The report says the “increased focus on prevention aims to address and reduce risk and the need for an emergency response”.
The joint foreword by Ms Metcalfe and chief fire officer Jonathan Dyson says:
“We are a predominantly rural service where most of our stations are crewed by on-call firefighters. It is increasingly challenging to recruit and retain staff to keep our rural fire engines available to respond to emergencies. We intend to modernise and invest in our on-call service model to ensure it is sustainable and fit for the future and ultimately improve fire engine availability.
The report says the consultation revealed more support in favour of the proposals than against, but adds:
“The extent of disagreement was greater for proposed changes to the provision of response resource (Huntington, Harrogate and Scarborough).”
Read more:
- Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine
- Fire Brigades Union ‘seriously concerned’ over cuts to Harrogate service