Time to See Through the Smoke and Mirrors of Fire and Rescue

Sorry we haven't been about much, but a new job as a risk subject matter expert (oh the irony) means FCCL has been really busy.

Anyway  today on www.police.uk   we discovered THIS   a snappy little article about transparency and the fire and rescue service

It isn't on WYFRS website - obviously we know how keen they are to consult  (NOT) but we think it should be, , public consultation  is VERY IMPORTANT

We think more information and interactive maps is a great idea - they are so simple to use even a local Councillor could understand them

So lets get rid of the smoke and mirrors all FRS use to disguise facts and see some proper information instead of lies and massaged statistics See below for the full article and link to the survey

The Home Office is running a survey to find out how you currently access information on fire and rescue services and what other types of fire related information you would find useful.

The Home Office is the government department responsible for fire and rescue services in England. The Home Secretary recently announced a package of reforms to the service including seeking greater transparency by making information on the service more easily accessible to the public online.

We would like to hear your views on how you currently access information on fire and rescue services and what other types of fire related information you would find useful. You can access the survey here

(opens in a new window)

Accountability & Openness

In the  Code of Conduct 

we found these two definitions 

ACCOUNTABILITY: Holders of public office are accountable for their decisions and actions to the public and must submit themselves to whatever scrutiny is appropriate to their office.

OPENNESS: Holders of public office should be as open as possible about all the decisions and actions that they take. They should give reasons for their decisions and restrict information only when the wider public interest clearly demands.

So  as tomorrow is the last day of "consultation" we here at FCCL will be sending an email  next Monday to every member of the fire authority and senior members of the management team at WYFRS  asking them (in the spirit of openness and accountability of course ) what they have done in regard of promoting the consultation process. 

How many public / private meetings have they organised ?

How many public / private meetings have they attended ? 

How many emails  they have had from constituents in opposition (or favour) of the proposed cuts in provision?

But sadly we are prepared to be bitterly disappointed - we suspect that many will simply not reply - some such  as Cllr Gil Thornton & MP Hilary Benn will even show contempt and delete our emails unread.  (in which case we will have to FOI them for the information ). 

But it does already seem that deals are being done behind closed doors.............

BUT 

the tail you can see disappearing is that of the station cat at Haworth  -  station cat reported that last night her fire station had a very special visitor, its so interesting we have posted the whole message below.  

"Deputy Chief Steve Beckley at Haworth last night; Told them that Keighley is to lose a pump in April and Haworth will be staying open for the time being. What happened to the consultation process? Mr Beckley is the Deputy who has taken his pension but stayed on, so he now gets £60,000 salary and £60,000 pension, taking him back up to his original £120,000. He will also be drawing interest on his half a million lump sum at the same time, so another £10,000 there. Could he be the best part time employee in the county? "

YES - we think he probably is !!!
(this scheme is NOT open to ordinary fire fighters btw) 


With information like this - its no wonder we at FCCL get cross - we have of course emailed Simon Pilling to ask if this is TRUE - for a start was DFO Beckley at Keighley last night would be a good place to start.   


BUT it seems that deals are already being done ------  without the consultation process even finishing..................   


anyway for nearly the last time (well till next year) 



IF YOU OBJECT TO THE CUTS PLEASE

Email Hannah Stoneman (HERE) 

(And don’t forget to copy in your MP, 

Local Councillor, 

Fire authority members, 

see the Contacts list for their E-mail addresses HERE

Or Write to her Here:-

Hannah Stoneman

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

Oakroyd Hall

Bradford Road

Birkenshaw

West Yorkshire

BD11 2DY

  

Protected Disclosure - is it time for somebody to blow the whistle ?

Most people we have met who work in the fire service 
(and that number increases on a daily basis)

 agree that 

FIRE CUTS COST LIVES. 

So as in our previous post Employee Consultation    ......... we discuss the lack of transparency and consultation with "coal face" firefighters.


Very few people disagree with us - of course the Chief Fire Officer Simon Pilling does, he seems to view these proposed cuts in provision as positive - all we can think is that in the confines of his private office he wears rose tinted glasses + a pair of blinkers!  (which may be the reason he puts his assistants in the fire line instead of facing the public himself.) click HERE to read what Ed Balls MP said about him. 


Even one of his Assistant Chief Fire Officers agrees with us (or perhaps quite simply refused to lie to a parliamentary select committee). Martyn Redfearns appearance reported by the BBC is available HERE  and our article about the cuts is HERE - and aptly named If there are cuts - will people DIE


So how come ACO Redfearn told the truth - well in reality we will never know?  But lets make an educated guess...........

31st December 2012  its bye bye Martyn --- after 30 years service he will retire. So even if he was to be hauled over the coals it would in reality make no difference to him. And  in reality he is also covered by the

THE LAW

There is a law which allows an employee to "blow the whistle"

Whistleblowing is when a worker reports suspected wrongdoing at work. Officially this is called ‘making a disclosure in the public interest’.

A worker can report things that aren’t right, are illegal or if anyone at work is neglecting their duties, including:

• someone’s health and safety is in danger
• damage to the environment
• a criminal offence
• the company isn’t obeying the law (like not having the right insurance)
• covering up wrongdoing

So how do you blow the whistle .........?

The way a worker can ‘blow the whistle’ on wrongdoing depends on whether they feel they can tell their employer.

The worker should check their employment contract or ask human resources/personnel if their company has a whistleblowing procedure.

If they feel they can, they should contact their employer about the issue they want to report

If they can’t tell their employer, they should contact a ‘prescribed person or body’.

A list of prescribed bodies is available HERE   

OR

there is also a charity called Public Concern at Work who can advise you. Their website is available HERE  

PCAW can advise you and also have trained legal advisors who can help and guide you through the process (and will also talk through your concerns confidentially).

So if your head is telling you something is wrong, and as we strongly suspect WYFRS are manipulating their figures - 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE  

use your head, put your hand on your heart

and  do something about it.

IF YOU ARE TELLING THE TRUTH 

THE LAW WILL PROTECT YOU !

(and just in case you are interested IF you are proved by an employment tribunal to have been dismissed because  of a protected disclosure the compensation has no limit) 

We here at FCCL have personal experience of WYFRS trying to silence us and we can only imagine what an ethical dilemma it will be for the fire fighter or other employee who is brave enough to  do this, but surely nobody reading this blog would disagree it is the responsible thing to do. 

Fire fighters are brave people who do a dirty, dangerous job, but if these cuts go through it will get even more dangerous and WYFRS senior officers do most certainly know how to play dirty .................may be its time for a change.............................. 

And of course as we at FCCL believe in transparency at some point when we are able we will tell you how WYFRS tried to 

SHUT US UP 

Anyway as usual if you would like to take part in the process of consultation  please see the details below. And if you would like to read what constitutes a "stakeholder" in the engagement process click HERE 

TO send YOUR VIEWS on the proposed cuts in West Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Provision 

Click HERE  to view the consultation documents.

You can also send your comments via snail mail to 

Hannah Stoneman   or email her HERE

West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue

Oakroyd Hall

Bradford Road

Birkenshaw

West Yorkshire

BD11 2DY