Hartlepool's fire brigade praised as 'leading light'

It comes following a review of the draft statement of assurance for 2019/20, published to demonstrate how Cleveland Fire Authority has met its commitments to communities in the past year.

The statement went before the fire authority audit and governance committee at its latest meeting, with the results praised by councillors.

Ian Hayton, chief fire officer at Cleveland Fire Brigade, noted the authority should be proud of its achievements and the work it carries out.

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He said: “It presents an extremely positive picture in relation to the finances, the governance, and the operational matters relating to this authority.

“We should be rightly proud of that achievement and actually be happy to present that to the communities of Teesside for them to appreciate that’s what we do on their behalf to keep them safe.”

He added the statement covers the result of last year’s inspection from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services, where Cleveland was rated ‘good’ and was ranked as one of the best in the country.

Mr Hayton added: “When you look at the detailed measurement of that, this authority lies sixth in the league table in terms of the attainment of positive results in relation to that.

“That does not mean we have got nothing to learn, we have, we’re a learning organisation that continues on and we will address any improvements that need to be there and members will see those improvements as we move to the next inspection in 2022.”

He added improvements to be made include increasing diversity of staff to be more reflective of local communities, and a lot of ‘positive action’ is being done to try and address that.

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Mr Hayton also noted a further inspection has been carried out looking at how the authority dealt with the Covid-19 pandemic from April to June.

He said informal feedback looked ‘extremely positive’ and the authority has an ‘excellent clean bill of health’ but stressed they are still awaiting the final outcome.

Cllr Naweed Hussain, who represents Middlesbrough Council on the authority and chaired the meeting, led the praise of the fire and rescue service.

He said: “I’d like to again say how proud we are of this report in terms of the performance, and would like to congratulate everyone involved with the authority, I think we should be very positive.”

Cllr Ashley Waters, who also represents Middlesbrough Council, praised the ‘fantastic work’ carried out.

He said: “I personally am really proud to work alongside you guys on this authority because we clearly are a leading light in a lot of what we do.

“Again, just continue the fantastic work that you’re doing, we’re all behind you.”

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