Ben Brook introduced the item and explained the Fire Reform White Paper had been published on 18 May, having been anticipated for several months. There was now a consultation period leading up to 26 July, and it was possible the outcomes of the White Paper and consultation would lead to changes in legislation. There had been no White Papers relating to reform of the Fire Service since 2003, which had led to the implementation of the Fire and Rescue Act 2004.

The White Paper focused on the three topics of People, Professionalism and Governance. The section on People included guidance on how pay for Fire and Rescue Services personnel was set, which was likely to impact on budgets. There had also been proposals to introduce direct entry to certain positions above that of a firefighter, such as station or area manager.

Under Professionalism it had been proposed to establish a firefighters’ college, in a similar manner to the College of Policing, and also a firefighters’ oath. Regarding Governance, three proposals had been put forward relating to the future governance of fire and rescue services with a view to potentially scrapping the existing executive committee system. These were: the creation of the post of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner; the service being governed by an elected Mayor; or being governed by a Council Leader. The Governance section of the White Paper also referred to a greater requirement for transparency regarding budgets. Ben Brook said responses to the consultation were through a series of questions and there was little room to add individual comments. He said he was drafting a response on behalf of the wider Fire Authority and it was not intended for WFRS to submit their own response.

The Chair asked if members wanted to make any comments to go towards the consultation on behalf of the Committee. Councillor Caroline Phillips said the proposed direct entries could work, but it was important that equal opportunities to apply should exist. For example there could be people interesting in applying who had the required skillset but not the experience of working within the fire service. Members agreed there should be multiple pathways available to give job opportunities to people from outside the fire service, as it gave people more career change opportunities. Councillor Andy Crump said it was important to be flexible around recruitment and retention of staff, noting that WFRS was losing staff to other employers.

Councillor Andy Crump (Portfolio Holder, Fire & Rescue and Community Safety) said he and Ben Brook had recently attended a meeting where the relevant Minister had stated their belief there were too many fire authorities. Councillor Crump stated his belief it was necessary for Warwickshire to have its own fire and rescue service due to the unique nature of the county, and stated other emergency services in the area were not reaching call-outs as promptly as might be required due to it being a more centralised service. He also stated his belief the inspection process was not always as efficient as it could be, and communication had been sent to HMICFRS indicating this. Councillor Crump said he remained to be convinced as to the merits of the creation of the post of Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner and said he believed the existing committee setup was best for Warwickshire. He also raised concerns at proposals to ring-fence certain funding, and how this would be monitored by external auditors.