Residents urged to have their say on future of Tyne and Wear fire service

Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) has revealed its plan to protect communities across the region – and is asking for the views of the public.

The service has today, Monday, May 9, published its draft Community Risk Management Plan (CRMP) that outlines how it will target its resources.

There are no new proposals in this CRMP itself but it does bring together a number of different corporate documents, including the service’s Integrated Risk Management Plan – which does include a number of changes.

As well as providing dedicated crews for the two aerial ladder platforms, it will see an increase in the number of firefighters based at Rainton Bridge fire station as a result of a change to shift patterns.

The move will mean the recruitment of an extra eight crew managers and 16 firefighters.

The service is now opening the document up to an eight-week period of consultation to provide both the public, and key stakeholders, with an opportunity to offer feedback.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Peter Heath said: “We have produced an Integrated Risk Management Profile that will propose how we do business over a set period of time.

“We most recently went through that process in summer 2021 and a number of proposals around changes to our Service Delivery were agreed following a period of public consultation.

“The change to a CRMP is a transference of the agreed proposals within the IRMP and move to a new format that pulls a number of key service plans together in one document.

“This will bring us in line with new national guidance but also make our corporate documentation more concise, with a clear vision for how we will do business moving forward.

“Although there are no new proposals, we do want to consult on this document and seek feedback on it.”

To read the CRMP, and find out more about the document, visit the TWFRS consultation pages at: https://www.twfire.gov.uk/consultation-crmp/.

You can complete a short four-question consultation survey at those pages, or you can access it directly here: https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/25M6LBC.