Minister for Police and Fire (): I am pleased to announce
to the House that the Government is today publishing our official
response to the fire reform White Paper and consultation.
Last year we published our White Paper, “Reforming Our Fire and
Rescue Service” (CP 670), to gauge the public and sector’s views
on how we wished to drive reform within fire and rescue services.
Our proposals were built on the lessons learned from the COVID-19
pandemic as well as the recommendations from HMICFRS’ independent
inspections, challenging national report findings and the
Grenfell Tower Inquiry.
In the period since the White Paper was published, further
challenges in the fire sector have been the focus of public and
parliamentary debate. I refer, in particular, to the independent
review of culture in the London Fire Brigade and the HMICFRS
national spotlight report into values and culture. These reports
highlighted misconduct in multiple fire and rescue services and
uncovered totally unacceptable behaviours. Our White Paper
response sets out our ambition to improve integrity across the
sector.
The feedback on our proposals has allowed us to refine our next
steps and announce today our package of reform, which will focus
on the areas that have the biggest impact for the public and for
fire professionals: developing a profession to be proud of and
ensuring that fire services do more to put the public first.
These include:
- Introducing a professional College of Fire & Rescue to
raise standards and strengthen leadership.
- Developing provision for fire chiefs to have operational
independence.
- Tasking the National Joint Council to review the pay
negotiation mechanism.
- Taking action to improve integrity and culture in fire and
rescue services through improved training, more open recruitment
practices and working towards a statutory code of ethics for fire
and rescue employees.
Our fire and rescue professionals deserve our support as they not
only respond to a changing world but also seek to develop and
strengthen their own capabilities. This consultation response
sets out how we can work together with partners across the fire
sector to deliver this.
I would like to put on record my thanks to everyone who has
engaged with us on our White Paper and consultation. Whether you
have helped us shape our proposals or provided feedback on how
they can work, your help has ensured we can drive forward much
needed and long overdue reform for our fire and rescue services
and ensure the best possible service for the public.
The Government’s response has been laid before Parliament as a
Command Paper (CP 993) and will be available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/reforming-our-fire-and-rescue-service
