At a meeting today West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (WYFRA) has approved a public consultation on two suggestions from the Integrated Risk Management Plan (IRMP) relating to organisational change.

The IRMP looks at the levels of risk within West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service (WYFRS) and puts forward suggestions to make the most of resources, and allocate them where they are needed.

The two proposals are as follows:

• To see a change in shift patterns at South Kirkby, Normanton and Castleford fire stations. The stations currently run a Day Crewing Close Call duty system which allows firefighters to respond from the station during the day and from accommodation onsite during the night. Following a recent review, the service are looking to align it with the national Day Crewing system.

• To reduce the number of aerial appliances from five to four. This is after WYFRS carried out a review of the number of incidents within West Yorkshire and found five aerial appliances is more than required for the operational demand.

The consultation, which is open for 10 weeks will gauge public reaction to these ideas, which will be taken into account when WYFRA decides to approve or reject the proposals going forward.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer Nick Smith said: “We welcome any feedback that the public want to provide on these two proposals and look forward to hearing what they have to say.

“None of the ideas we’ve suggested will see any changes to the number of firefighters here at WYFRS, and will help to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

There’s a variety of ways to get in touch with us so we hope the public will let us know their thoughts – and of course we’re happy to answer any concerns or questions they may have.”

Anyone who wishes to give their views on either issue can do so by completing this form by November 29^th 2019:

Alternatively you can send an email to consultation@westyorksfire.gov.uk

Or a paper copy can be completed, which can be collected from a local fire station, or printed at home and sent to:

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service

Oakroyd Hall

Bradford Road

Birkenshaw

West Yorkshire

BD11 2DY