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21 February 2007
Experts have given West Yorkshire the maximum star rating for the way it plans, organises and delivers its fire and rescue services.
A national team of assessors visited West Yorkshire last November and the findings were published today.
The Performing Strongly rating is the top award.
The team, drawn from fire and rescue authorities across the country, homed in on five key areas:
- how risks are analysed
- operational preparedness
- call management and incident support
- emergency response
- prevention and protection services.
“Throughout the review West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority not only demonstrated strength across all five lines of enquiry but also its commitment to sharing strengths with peers and partners alike.”
Among the examples of best practice singled out were:
- incident command
- professional development of middle, senior and strategic managers
- public involvement when planning service change
- work with young people and offenders
- a commitment to equality and diversity.
“We like to think we run a forward-looking, efficient and effective fire and rescue service but its always good when people you respect independently express confidence in what you’re doing,” said Chief Fire Officer Phil Toase.
“The Audit Commission is today publishing a range of indicators highlighting how fire authorities perform but this is the one which actually measures the bread and butter job.”
Councillor Gordon Beever, who chairs the county’s fire and rescue authority, said the rating illustrated how quickly the brigade was moving forward not just in the way it prepared for, and tackled, incidents but also in the emphasis given to fire prevention and community safety.
The expert team’s rating forms a critical part of a global score given by the Commission for operational service delivery.
“The team’s findings are put together with data on such things as the number and type of fires, fire fatalities, injuries, false alarms and arson attacks,” explained Mr. Toase. “Although the vast majority of serious incidents happen in the big metropolitan areas like West Yorkshire - and this inevitably drags down the final judgement - we still come out as Performing Well overall.”
Mr. Toase said he regretted that the Commission had just lumped data indiscriminately into the equation.
“Ideally, we should be comparing West Yorkshire’s performance with places like London and Greater Manchester, not that of Wiltshire or the Isle of Wight, but I’m sure the Commission will take this obvious criticism on board for the future because it would make the audit more meaningful.”