The number of firefighters stationed in Harrogate will be cut by four in April.
The move, which will save £210,000, is part of plans to reduce the number of nighttime fire engines based in the town from two to one.
The Stray Ferret broke the news in 2022 that Zoe Metcalfe, the North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner planned to shed frontline firefighting jobs as part of her Risk and Resource Model, which sets out how fire resources will be deployed.
The proposals were later adopted despite widespread safety concerns but they have yet to be implemented.
A report that will be debated by councillors on Thursday (January 11) about setting the police and fire service precepts for the next financial year gives a brief update.
It says Harrogate will have four fewer firefighters from April this year. Scarborough is due to lose four firefighters next year, saving another £215,000. Another seven firefighters, described as ‘operational staffing reserve’, will also go in April next year, saving £375,000.
The report, which comes after Ms Metcalfe hinted council taxpayers may have to pay more for police and fire services this year, warns “finances continue to be exceptional tight”.
The Stray Ferret asked Ms Metcalfe’s office how many firefighters will remain at Harrogate after the changes take effect and whether those affected had been offered alternative roles.
A spokesperson said:
“The proposals in the precept report are in line with the consultation and decisions made in relation to the Risk and Resource Model in September 2022.
“The report to which your questions refer will be discussed at the police, fire and crime panel meeting on Thursday, January 11 and it would not be appropriate for us to provide any further information at this time.”
The North Yorkshire Police Fire and Crime Panel, which is a joint committee of North Yorkshire Council and City of York Council, scrutinises the performance of the commissioner.
How will it work?
Harrogate Fire Station
Currently, Harrogate Fire Station on Skipton Road has one fire engine which can respond to all callouts and one smaller tactical response vehicle. Both operate around the clock.
The tactical response vehicle will be replaced by a larger fire engine but it will only be crewed during the day.
Ms Metcalfe’s Risk and Resource Model said more fires occur during daytime, and having two fire engines at Harrogate would provide better daytime protection at key times.
But the second Harrogate appliance won’t be staffed between 10pm and 9am, meaning greater dependence on on-call firefighters in Knaresborough when a second fire engine is required at major incidents.
Read more:
- Crime commissioner Zoë Metcalfe hints at council tax increase
- Confirmed: Harrogate to have just one night time fire engine
‘Use it or lose it’ warning as bus passenger numbers fall across Harrogate district
Bus services across the Harrogate district are under “unprecedented” pressure thanks to dwindling passenger numbers, leaving some routes at risk of being cut.
North Yorkshire County Council has issued a stark warning that, faced with passenger numbers of only around 80% of their previous levels, additional funding would be needed to maintain services.
The authority’s leader, Cllr Carl Les, said unless more people travel by bus, the new North Yorkshire Council may be unable to maintain the existing services.
A planned cut of funding from the Department for Transport has been delayed from October until March, but local authorities face reduced income and rising costs even before the money runs out.
Cllr Les said:
“We are in a time of immense pressure for bus services nationally and North Yorkshire is no exception.
“Throughout the pandemic, the government has provided significant support to commercial companies to keep services running in North Yorkshire that would otherwise have been lost.
“While it is very welcome that this has been extended until March, we know many routes are continuing to struggle and companies tell us it will be impossible for these to continue operating without significant additional funding.
“The stark reality is that the survival of many services across the county are on a knife edge. We know how important public transport is for many residents but we are in a use it or lose it situation.”
The drop in passenger numbers follows the covid pandemic, with more people now thought to be working from home or using other modes of transport.
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NYCC has already tried to mitigate the impact of the pressures on bus services by setting up an enhanced partnership agreement, which met for the first time in August.
It sees the council work with bus operators to improve facilities and introduce measures to enhance operating conditions.
North Yorkshire County Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Keane Duncan, said the problems were down to the drop in passenger numbers, making many more routes unsustainable. He said:
North Yorkshire fire commissioner says she would still consider cuts even with ‘millions in the bank’“This is an unprecedented situation with around a third of the network at risk of seeing a reduced level of service or ceasing altogether unless patronage levels improve.
“We have already seen several routes cease, often at short notice, and the unfortunate expectation is that others may follow unless usage improves.
“While the council uses £1.6m each year to support services that are not commercially viable, this cannot meet the scale of the challenge we are now experiencing from routes operating without council subsidy.
“The council has been successful in lobbying government for extra financial support, but we accept this will not continue in perpetuity. We are working closely with operators to encourage passengers to use services and protect them for our communities.”
North Yorkshire’s police, fire and crime commissioner has said she would still consider proposed changes to Harrogate’s fire crews “even if the service had millions of pounds in the bank”.
Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is due to announce her decision on the plans to cut the number of night-time fire engines to just one on Thursday.
She has argued that the changes would allow Harrogate fire station to have two better-equipped fire engines during the day when emergencies are more likely to occur.
Commissioner Metcalfe has also said the proposals – which are part of a new risk and resource model – would allow for investment in fire prevention.
Asked at a council meeting last night whether she would still consider the plans if the fire service was better funded, commissioner Metcalfe said she “would still be doing this” and that she was “very assured” residents will be “kept safe”.
She said:
“We are always looking at different ways to get additional money into the fire service.
“We have this juxtaposition where North Yorkshire Police is what I would call well funded, but the fire service has just only got a balanced budget.
“As far as I am concerned about the risk and resource modelling, I would still be doing this even if we had a lot of money in the bank.”
Currently, Harrogate fire station has one fire engine which can respond to all emergencies and a smaller “tactical response” vehicle that both operate around the clock.
Under the proposals put forward by the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, the smaller vehicle would be replaced by a larger fire engine, but it would only be crewed during the day.
The plans have drawn criticism from North Yorkshire’s Fire Brigades Union which said the changes along with similar proposals for Scarborough and Huntington would leave the county with a “second-rate emergency response service that will put lives at risk”.
Commissioner Metcalfe has repeatedly insisted that the proposals have been based on “extensive” risk assessments which look at when and where emergencies are most likely to occur.
She also said the changes would allow for improvements in other areas including the fire service’s on-call model which means only five out of 38 fire stations are currently crewed 24 hours a day.
These are Acomb, Harrogate, Huntington, Scarborough and York fire stations.
Commissioner Metcalfe told last night’s meeting: “It is really important to realise that our community risk profile makes sure that we identify where the risks are and that the right amount of resources are in place.
Decision due on cuts to Harrogate’s night-time fire crews this month“It is also absolutely right that we invest in prevention and protection, as well as our on-call model which desperately needs attention.”
A controversial plan to cut the number of night-time fire engines in Harrogate to just one is set to be decided by the county’s police, fire and crime commissioner this month.
Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is assessing feedback from a consultation and is expected to meet with her executive board for a decision in September.
She has continually insisted that the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue service would “continue to provide an immediate emergency response” under the plan as emergencies are less likely to occur during the night.
Yet union officials and councillors remain concerned about the proposal which has been described as “putting money before lives”.
The plan is part of the fire service’s new risk and resource model, and a three-month public consultation ended in August.
According to the commissioner’s website, a consultation summary report will be presented to the executive board for a decision before the final risk and resource model is published.
If approved, it will pave the way for a new strategy on how the fire service will deploy its staff and equipment over the next three years.
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There are similar proposals for fire stations in Scarborough and Huntington which commissioner Metcalfe said along with the Harrogate plans would save over £1.5 million a year to allow for investment in fire prevention
She also insisted the proposals are not cost-cutting measures and have been based on “extensive risk assessment”.
However, concerns remain over public safety and the amount of government funding that the fire service receives.
The North Yorkshire Fire Brigades Union previously said the fire service’s finances have left it “struggling to buy the basics” and that around £25 million is needed to replace out-of-date buildings, vehicles and equipment.
Union secretary Steve Howley also said the risk and resource model plans would leave the county with a “second-rate emergency response service that will put lives at risk”.
He said:
Cuts to Harrogate fire crews would ‘put money before lives’, says ex-firefighter“A decade of under investment in the fire and rescue service has dovetailed with an increase in response times both locally and nationally,
“The police, fire and crime commissioner needs to fight for the correct funding from government, not simply mask underfunding by slashing services.”
A former firefighter and now councillor has hit out at proposals to cut the number of night-time fire engines in Harrogate to just one.
Independent councillor Sid Hawke, who worked as a retained firefighter for North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service in Ripon, said the plans would “put money before lives”.
Harrogate fire station currently has two fire engines operating 24 hours a day, but this could be reduced to just one at night under the proposals out to consultation.
Last night both appliances were summoned to fires in commercial bins in Harrogate town centre — this will not be possible if the proposals go ahead.
North Yorkshire Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner Zoë Metcalfe is asking residents for their views on the plans as part of county-wide proposals, which she said would save over £1.5 million a year – yet she insisted they are not cost-cutting measures.
Cllr Hawke, an Independent member of Harrogate Borough Council and newly-elected mayor of Ripon, said:
“You can’t put money before lives.
“It’s a big town is Harrogate. If there were two shouts at one go, what would the fire station do?
“They could call in support, but that would be from Boroughbridge, Thirsk or anywhere, and somebody could lose their life in that time.”
Read more:
- Masham Police House to be sold as officers relocate to fire station
- Five Harrogate firefighters could lose jobs in plans to reduce service
Cllr Hawke left the fire service around 10 years ago and said it does not receive the financial support it needs to respond to emergencies quickly. He has called on Ms Metcalfe, a Conservative, to scrap the proposals and instead increase the number of fire engines and staff.
Cllr Hawke said:
“I don’t care how much could be saved – there is money in budgets elsewhere to be dug into without putting lives at risk.
“I think we need more firefighters – I really do.”
Fire service ‘has changed’
The proposals are detailed within a document which sets out how the fire service will deploy staff and equipment over the next three years.
The Risk and Resource Model has been drawn up based on “extensive risk assessments” looking at the likelihood and severity of emergencies including fires, road traffic collisions and water related incidents.
The document is out to consultation until August 14 and Ms Metcalfe said it reflected a changing role for the fire service.
Ms Metcalfe, who is also a Harrogate borough councillor, said there is higher demand for services during daytime hours in Harrogate and that fire-related incidents now make up a small proportion of what the fire service does.
She said:
“The role of a fire and rescue service has changed and continues to change, with only 26% of our incidents last year relating to a fire emergency.
“We want to ensure we are addressing our current and future challenges and that we have the capacity to prevent and protect to stop incidents happening in the first place and prevent harm before it can take place, while also having the capacity to respond to emergencies when they do take place.
“We are confident these proposals would do that.”