We strive to create a positive, professional culture in which we can provide a safe
and effective service for the public, where everyone feels safe – physically and
psychologically – and is supported to be themselves. A Service where new staff are
welcomed and accepted for their individual contribution, and a Service that every
one of us can be proud to be part of. A positive workplace culture is essential where teamwork, trust, and resilience are critical to both safety and performance. In a response environment, a strong and supportive culture not only enhances staff wellbeing and morale but also drives operational effectiveness, community trust, and continuous improvement.

The five principles in the Core Code of Ethics  apply to every action we take, as individuals or as a Service. The principles will help all of us do our jobs in the right way.

Our Achievements

• Following staff consultation, we have adopted the Core Code of Ethics for Fire and Rescue Services as our service values. We are committed to the ethical principles of the Code and strive to apply them in all we do.
• We have successfully completed and responded to all the recommendations from within HMICFRS Culture and Values report.
• We invested in a subsidised collaboration with the University of Huddersfield, to co-develop a framework for cultural change and behavioural improvement. The University have worked with staff for over a year to develop a behavioural and leadership charter and a toolkit to help us deliver change.
• We have introduced scheduled diary visits for strategic leaders to visit each of our station locations. Staff are encouraged to communicate freely and raise any concerns.
• We have made sure all staff are trained and clear about what to do if they encounter inappropriate behaviour, we have implemented a confidential reporting line which allows staff to raise concerns anonymously and effectively.
• Our newly implemented recruitment and promotions process has been externally developed and has undergone data research to support its implementation. This ensures that we are eliminating discrimination and bias in our recruitment and promotion practices.
• We have reinvigorated staff network groups allowing staff to be involved on issues and decisions which affect them.
•  Establishing an Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Culture (EDIC) Board chaired by the Chief Fire Officer.

Areas of Focus

Over the period of this CRMP we will focus on:

• Implementing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) leadership training for all senior
  managers and frontline leaders.
• Ensuring we have robust and consistent processes in place to undertake equality impact assessments and to monitor any actions required to ensure policies are fair and that no person or group is unintentionally disadvantaged.
• Successfully completing all the recommendations and actions associated with the
• Framework for Change toolkit and committing to the pledges set out within the leadership charter.
• Successfully completing all the recommendations set out within the HMICFRS report ‘Standards of behaviour: The handling of misconduct in fire and rescue services’
• Providing further opportunities for staff to feedback and improving mechanisms to
  demonstrate how we have listened.
•  Improving our workforce data and developing trust within our staff to share their personal information, so that we can understand the diversity of our existing workforce, including staff members with protected characteristics.
• Launching an Inclusive Leadership Programme to embed EDI into daily management and further developing staff networks for underrepresented groups to provide a platform for engagement and advocacy.
•  Conducting annual staff surveys and inclusion audits to measure workplace culture and to embed EDI metrics into our organisational performance indicators.
• Reviewing our corporate workwear to ensure best value for money whilst taking learning from our cultural review