Fire Minister Praises ‘Equality Standard’

Title: Fire Minister Praises North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority ‘Equality Standard’ Achievement

Date: 21^st October 2008

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (NYFRA) have won praise from Fire Minister Sadiq Khan for becoming the first fire authority in the country to achieve Level 3 of the Equality Standard for Local Government through the new ‘Peer Assessment Challenge’ process.

The Equality Standard for Local Government has been adopted by 90 per cent of all local authorities and recognises the importance of fair equal treatment in local government services, including fire and rescue authorities. It has been developed to enable local authorities to embed equality in to all aspects of policy and practice.

To achieve the standard, NYFRA underwent a new external assessment – the ‘peer challenge’. The work of the Authority was assessed in-depth by their peers from other Fire and Rescue Authorities and by equality and diversity experts from the Improvement and Development Agency (IDeA) and a District Council. This included a two-day site visit with interviews and focus groups with employees, members and other stakeholders.

Fire Minister Sadiq Khan said: "I’m impressed that North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority chose to let their hard work on equality and diversity be judged by their peers as well as experts.

"A more diverse fire service will save lives by building up trust and better connections with the community, which can increase fire safety awareness and drive down the number of fires.

"We know people become firefighters because they want a rewarding career and to save lives but there are too few women and people from minority ethnic backgrounds in the service.

"North Yorkshire FRA have really taken on the challenge of changing the face of the fire service and achieved an excellent result. I hope other Fire and Rescue Services will follow their example as we widen the pool of talent that the service recruits from."

County Councillor and Chair of NYFRA, John Fort BEM, says: “We took a brave step to be the first fire and rescue authority in the country to undergo this assessment, so I am delighted with the result. Achieving Level 3 of the standard demonstrates how far we have come as a modern fire and rescue service that is committed to working with our diverse communities to improve quality of life.

“We have achieved this through the commitment of our own staff and members and through our close work with partner agencies.”

Chief Fire Officer Nigel Hutchinson says: “To find that we have achieved Level 3 of the standard shows that our initiatives and our innovative approaches to community engagement are working. It demonstrates that we have risen to the challenge set by Government and that equality and diversity are truly embedded in all of our work. This is a marvellous achievement for us and for the fire and rescue service as a whole.”

During the assessment, the Authority was praised for its innovative work with hard to reach groups. For example, developing ‘welcome packs’ for Polish communities in Selby and providing a range of initiatives to engage with young people, including its proactive Local Intervention Fire Education scheme.

Assistant Chief Fire Officer and Director of Human Resources, Andy Trowsdale, said: “I am proud of what we have achieved, with the assessment team highlighting the huge range of work we have undertaken to engage with diverse communities.

“Staff at all levels within the organisation have embraced equality and diversity. It is through their commitment and professionalism that we are making a real and tangible difference to the quality of life of our diverse communities and I can’t thank them enough for helping us achieve this Standard.”