Earlier today, the Police and Fire Minister, Brandon Lewis MP, delivered his reform speech to an audience packed with Chief Fire Officers, Chief Executives, Fire Authority Chairs and other key stakeholders.

The key points we took from the speech, which broadly reiterated the views of the then Home Secretary, Theresa May MP back in May 2016, covered the lack of diversity within the workforce, the need for better collaboration and a reformed national collective bargaining structure (NJC).

As with the Home Secretary’s speech, the RFU welcomes the Fire Minister’s commitment to the reform agenda and we will continue to play our part to shape the structure of the fire service framework that is fit for the 21st century and better reflects the valuable contribution made by Retained/On-Call firefighters across the UK. However, we are fully aware that there are a minority of CFO’s, Fire Authority Chairs and stakeholders who wish to maintain the status-quo, preferring to focus on maintaining their own fiefdoms rather than provide a modern emergency service.

We intend to identify and highlight both good and poor practice across the sector and would welcome your contribution on what currently works locally and what needs to change.

The full transcript of the Fire Minister’s speech can be found here, alternatively a video is also available.