A radical new system for maintaining vital crew numbers on fire stations across West Yorkshire is proving an outstanding success.

In the first four months of this year the system guaranteed that proper staffing levels were provided on all 31 fulltime fire stations. In the same period last year, the target was missed on 428 occasions. “So far, the model is exceeding all expectations and is attracting interest from brigades throughout the UK,” said Assistant Chief Fire Officer Martyn Redfearn. “The results are astonishing and I believe we will see more benefits in the future.”

The system involved taking one firefighter post from each station watch and creating a central pool of staff to cover for certain types of leave, sickness and offwatch training. In addition to maintaining crucial firefighter levels across the brigade area, the pool has ensured a higher level of expertise is available for certain incidents and that there is less prearranged overtime.

Sickness absence has fallen by 34 per cent. “Overall, the system is also expected to deliver net savings of some £1.2m. in a full year so the Council Taxpayer also shares in its success,” added Councillor Chris Townsley, who chairs the fire authority’s Personnel and Training Committee.

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