GMFRS Programme for Change - July 2018

[Carl]

Our FRS has just had a live feed from a meeting and our new Chief Fire Officer will be Jim Wallace, who will take on the role from September 2018. Jim is an experienced leader of Fire and Rescue services and led the transformation of the service in Northern Ireland.

• The Mayor also announced a number of operational changes to put the frontline first:
• New rostering arrangements based on a 2-2-4 shift duty system to improve firefighter work/life balance. This will also remove the need for roster reserves, which means firefighters have a clearer, family-friendly working pattern and know in advance which shift patterns they are working and which station they will be based at.
• A new policy to allow firefighters to select their own annual leave.
• Refurbishment work at a number of fire stations to improve facilities, in particular facilities for female firefighters.
• An accelerated recruitment drive, which is already underway to reduce the current number of frontline operational vacancies.

[Luminoki]

Whilst i dont know the current state of play in GMFRS, at face value this sounds like a promising future. However, are there any changes that the troops on the ground would like to see that the new CFO has not yet addressed?

[Carl]

Yes, but I would get typing cramp if I was to list them all. There are a few GMFRS bods on here who I would like to see join in on this one to be honest. 

I think the fact that the rostering is getting rid of certain elements is a big one, but has not affected me personally as a WM. In saying that there is a thread running on GMFRS shifts

[Keith]

4 hours ago, Carl said:

Jim is an experienced leader of Fire and Rescue services and led the transformation of the service in Northern Ireland.

He did? Must have missed that.

[Mess6311]

Getting rid of roster reserves is a big bonus which has been a massive gripe for years. There is more to come in terms of shift changes but we will have to wait to see that. A big gripe at the moment will be the kit and appliances. Personally even though it would cost a fortune we need to modernise the whole fleet. He also alluded to Red1's again but without a pay offer and training this wont go very far

Anyone from NI on here or Scotland that have experience of Jim Wallace? Our top 2 are now both non-ops. Be interesting to know more about them?

[Carl]

We do have quite a few from the Scottish Brigades and several from NI, so hopefully they can give us some positives and some negatives if required. 

[Jet]

Yep, some truly welcome news here in GMFRS. Just a bit sad that we're only just beginning to enjoy some of the most basic perks that have been enjoyed by most FF's around the country for years.

But hats off to Andy Burnham and his dep Beverley Hughes for listening to us and making some positive changes with, as yet, no caveats attached (except the promise to continue OT).

[Keith]

Given what has been said regarding Andy Burnham, I'm surprised at the direction of the appointment, I'd have thought a uniform CFO would have been made.

Regarding Jim Wallace, in all honesty I can't really tell you much other than a bit of the background. He was brought in by the Department to address governance issues as Interim Chief Executive, with the then Deputy CFO becoming Interim CFO to run the operational side of things. As a result because he was non uniform not many operational firefighters would have much direct contact with him. 

Then like many other brigades and services there was a lot of debate of whether to go for a Chief Executive or a uniform CFO, ultimately we went with a CFO. Mr Wallace then left in 2015. I wouldn't say he transformed the NIFRS, hence my comment above, as we've still a lot of reforms to come. He probably has made changes and improvements on the corporate side of things. Do they impact on the operational side, probably indirectly as we now have more suits in position of power.

[Geeooo]

On 24/07/2018 at 21:16, Mess6311 said:

Anyone from NI on here or Scotland that have experience of Jim Wallace? Our top 2 are now both non-ops. Be interesting to know more about them?

I had to google the guy, shows the amount of influence/activity he had up here. Maybe he had more to do with Police Scotland than us?

[Br9mp81]

M E N reporting that some GMFRS stations are vermin ridden unfit for use this morning

[Luminoki]

Has there been any progress on the proposed changes?

[Carl]

I think things have been put on hold to some extent. Im guessing the current pandemic has changed some a lot of them. More so, we have a new CFO who I think wants to look at it closer, which I personally think is a good call. 

Certain things have changed within the service. We shall see if they are for the best ?