FOI REQUEST 822
Background
The Service has divided the Wholetime and Retained firefighters in order to clarify
the information presented as they are employed differently:
• Wholetime Firefighters are fuly employed for either 21 or 42 hours per week
(this is their primary employment)
• Retained Firefighters are employed for ‘on cal ’ hours which can vary
depending on the station needs and their availability (they usually have other
primary employment)
The hourly pay rate for Wholetime and Retained Firefighters is exactly the same, the
only difference is the amount of hours they work each week.
Number of Operational Staff
Wholetime Operational Firefighters as at Watch Managers / Crew Managers / Fire
31st March
Fighters (Full Time Equivalent: FTE)
2008
241
2013
211
2018
216.67
During the period around 2013 the Fire and Rescue Authority had to prioritise delivery
during a reduction in budgets due to the continued austerity. Fol owing the
decisions made there was a reduction in Wholetime posts, an example of which is
the decision not to primary crew the aerial ladder platforms.
Retained Operational Firefighters as at
Watch Managers / Crew Managers / Fire
31st March
Fighters (No of employees)
2008
577
2013
467
2018
443
Changes in the Wholetime rostering system and the potential threat of redundancies
resulted in RDS recruitment being suspended for a period. The reduction in
operational activity also has a detrimental effect on the recruitment and retention of
staff conditioned to the Retained duty System. Being on call for significant periods
and not going to numbers of incidents relative to that commitment means that
activity return for the investment of time becomes lower, resulting in staff leaving.
Principal and Middle officers as at 31st
Principal Officers/Area Managers / Group
March
Managers / Station Managers (FTE)
2008
59
2013
43
2018
42
As part of the Authority’s Combined Improvement and Risk Reduction Plan, in 2011-
12 the Service implemented a resourcing strategy undertaking a reorganisation at
operational manager level, this resulted in a reduction of operational posts whereby
the fire prevention roles were assigned to non-operational staff.
Associated Costs
Wholetime Operational Firefighters
Watch Managers / Crew Managers / Fire
based on the financial year 1 April to 31
Fighters
March
2008
£10,144,432
2013
£9,253,459
2018
£10,169,002
Retained Operational Firefighters based
Watch Managers / Crew Managers / Fire
on the financial year 1 April to 31 March
Fighters
2008
£4,643,912
2013
£3,992,143
2018
£3,896,414
Principal and Middle Managers based on Principal Officers/Area Managers / Group
the financial year 1 April to 31 March
Managers / Station Managers
2008
£3,390,529
2013
£2,880,865
2018
£2,972,407
During the financial year there may be an increase/decrease in headcount which
would be reflected in the associated costs, however would not be reflective in the
headcount due to reporting periods.