Residents of West Yorkshire have ten weeks to have their say on the future of the region’s fire service, following the launch of a public consultation. The West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service CRMP (Community Risk Management Plan) consultation will close on 6 June.
Called the Fire and Rescue Service 2022-25, the CRMP will detail how West Yorkshire will manage and reduce fire-related risks and other emergencies to protect its communities over the next three years.
Eight priority areas
The eight priority areas in for the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service CRMP 2022-2025 are:
- How they assess risk within the communities
- Making sure the resources are in the right place at the right time
- Performance against emergency response times
- How they work with the community
- Commitments to climate change
- How they spend the budget
- How they learn and improve
- Changes to the ways of working
Evaluation of the pre-consultation
The final CRMP will be shaped by an evaluation of the pre-consultation and current public consultation
A short ‘pre-consultation’ was held in January. The final CRMP will be shaped by an evaluation of the pre-consultation and current public consultation. It will be published in summer 2022.
Nick Smith, West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service Assistant Chief Fire Officer, said: “West Yorkshire’s diverse communities and ever-changing environment create a unique mixture of risk: We have large cities and towns, and an industrial heritage with large mills put to different uses or left unoccupied."
He adds, "We have many miles of waterways set in steep valleys that flood regularly and rapidly. We have remote villages, large moorland, motorways, major railways, an international airport, large industrial sites, commercial centres, farming, major sporting and cultural events and much more."
Future challenges
Nick Smith added: “We protect our communities through prevention, protection and response activities, working together with five local authorities and partners like the Police and Ambulance Services to support community wellbeing, especially to the most vulnerable."
He continues, “To continue to achieve our ambition of 'Making West Yorkshire Safer' and provide an excellent service we must continue to have the right resources in the right place at the right time and ensure our highly skilled staff can adapt to future challenges. To achieve all of this, it’s important that the people we serve have their say, and we hope to encourage as many as possible to take part in the consultation.”
44 Fire and Rescue Services
West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service is one of 44 Fire and Rescue Services in England and Wales and the fourth biggest Metropolitan Service in England. It is governed by the West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority which has 22 elected Members from across the five local authorities.
It serves a population of more than two million people, spread over almost 800 square miles, providing emergency cover 24-hours a day, every day of the year.
