GOVERNMENT statistics have shown that parts of the North East have had some of the worst recent Covid hotspots as the Omicron wave continues, and they are continuing to report fire service shortages as Covid hits the service.
In Cleveland there should be 18 fire engines available for use at any one time, but at the moment there are generally levels of only 12-15 due to Covid and other staffing issues.
Across Tyne and Wear, 11 per cent of fire and rescue service staff are off on sick leave, said the Fire Brigades Union.
Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service said that figure was from last year, adding that current Covid-related absence is four per cent.
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It has also recently been reported that firefighter crew levels across Teeside and County Durham were being “impacted” by Covid, according to a radio interview given by Fire Brigades Union regional secretary for the North East Brian Harris.
Mr Harris said: “Covid is hitting the fire and rescue service hard, with fire engines left out of use in their stations – but this is entirely avoidable. A fire and rescue service with sufficient levels of staffing and decent levels of resilience would be able to continue past these challenges.
“But across the country we’ve had one in every five firefighters cut since 2010 as financial constraints have hit, so we aren’t in that position. It’s entirely unclear how the government thinks it is acceptable to have a fire and rescue service with such a low level of resilience.”
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Across the country, firefighter number cuts come against a background of cuts to government funding for fire and rescue, with this having reduced by 13.8% in cash terms, or £140m between 2016/17 and 2021/22.
Firefighter number cuts have particularly hit Cleveland, with that fire and rescue service losing over one in three (34%) of its firefighters between 2010 and 2021, and Tyne and Wear, with that service losing 33% of its firefighters across that same timeframe.
Ian Hayton, Chief Fire Officer at Cleveland Fire Brigade, said: “Throughout the pandemic, Cleveland Fire Brigade has maintained its ability to respond to fires and other emergencies.
“We have continued to deliver our full range of prevention, protection and emergency response services. In common with other organisations, the Brigade has experienced staff absence due to Covid and this has been carefully managed through robust business continuity arrangements.
“During the pandemic, the average time for a crew to get to a building fire was five minutes six seconds, which is well below our targeted response of seven minutes.
“We continue to maintain our emergency response standards and ensure that our full range of services are delivered. Despite challenging circumstances, we will always maintain the necessary cover for all emergencies as we keep our communities safe.
“Our business continuity arrangements throughout the pandemic have been independently assessed by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire and Rescue Services (HMICFRS). This inspection found that the Brigade adapted and responded to the pandemic effectively.
“Cleveland Fire Brigade continues to be one of the top performing fire and rescue services in the country, rated good in all areas by HMICFRS.”
A Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Service (TWFRS) spokesperson said: “Like any large organisation, we have had Coronavirus-related absences to deal with throughout the pandemic, however, we have remained resilient throughout.
"We have strict control measures in place to mitigate the transmission of the virus that go beyond the restrictions that have been in place for our communities.
"We want to reassure residents in Tyne and Wear that we have contingencies in place that will ensure those in need will always receive an emergency response when they need it.
"The level of absences relating to Coronavirus remain at around 4 per cent of the workforce, which is a manageable level. There has been no impact on the delivery of our services, including the number of appliances we have had on the run.
"We would also reiterate that throughout the last two years we have deployed staff to assist the NHS, we currently have staff working in the lighthouse lab and we have distributed more than 30,000 lateral flow tests. This is a testament to our operational and service wide resilience."
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