Evaluation of police and fire reform year 4: international perspectives
Evaluation of police and fire reform year 4: international perspectives on police and fire reform.
Appendix B: Fire case studies
Case Study 1: New Zealand
Demographic information
New Zealand geographically consists of two main islands, the North Island and the South Island, and approximately 600 smaller islands. It is located south east of Australia, in close proximity to the Pacific island area. There are 4.8 million people living mainly in urban areas on the North Island, with one third living in Auckland.
New Zealand covers a total area of 268,000 km2 and has an extensive 15,000km long coastline. New Zealand also has one of the largest exclusive economic zones in the world covering more than 15 times its land area.
Structural organisation of the fire service
Fire and Emergency New Zealand is New Zealand’s main firefighting organisation. Its jurisdiction covers almost all New Zealand’s land mass, with a couple of exceptions such as land owned by the Defence Force or the Department of Conservation.
The Chief Executive of the Fire Service reports to the Chairman of the Fire and Emergency New Zealand Board. Members of this Board are appointed by the Minister of Internal Affairs. Terms of appointment to the Board are typically for three years, and members are eligible for reappointment.
Reporting to the Chief Executive, there is a National Commander responsible for urban areas and a National Manager responsible for rural areas.
Shape and size of the fire service workforce
Fire and Emergency New Zealand serve a population of 4.8 million people with 1,734 career firefighters, 8,161 urban volunteers and 3,134 rural volunteers.
In total this is 13,029 firefighters or 1 for every 368 members of the population.
Brief history of fire service structural reform
When reform took place
Fire and Emergency New Zealand was established on 1st July 2017, from the amalgamation of the New Zealand Fire Service, the National Rural Fire Authority and 38 rural fire organisations.
Why reform occurred
Two reviews of the fire service in 2012 and 2015 paved the way for reform. They identified a lack of co-ordination and leadership between the then separate urban and rural services, which led to resourcing and training that was often not matched to community needs, especially in rural areas.
Main aims of reform
The main aim of the reform was to improve service at a community level through the creation of a single, unified service with co-ordinated leadership that could allocate resources effectively. To this end the Chief Executive has redefined the Senior Leadership Team and recruitment for a more streamlined team who will drive and support a more strategy led organisation is now underway.
The amalgamation also enables Fire and Emergency New Zealand to hold expanded functions, including call-outs to road accidents and medical emergencies.
Where they are on reform journey
Although Fire and Emergency New Zealand was officially established on 1st July 2017, they are currently in the “Integration” phase of amalgamating the relevant bodies. This phase lasts between 1st July 2017 and 30th June 2020, when available transition funding ends.
Many of the systems and processes of the bodies that are being amalgamated into Fire and Emergency New Zealand were initially unintegrated. These included procurement, fleet and asset management and fire permitting to name a few. However, these and many others are now integrated, and their processes are being brought together in a way that is required for Fire and Emergency New Zealand to work as one body. This will lay the foundation for the full amalgamation stage, which will take another ten to twenty years as Fire and Emergency New Zealand operates as a single organisation.
Case Study 2: Canada
Demographic information
Canada is a large North American country lying between the United States to its south and the Arctic Circle to its north. It has a population of 35.5 million people, with large urban populations around the major cities of Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal. Its official languages are both French and English.
Covering a total land area of almost 10 million km2, Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. Two-thirds of the population live within 100km of the southern border, and its population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre makes it one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world.
Structural organisation of the fire service
Fire services in Canada operate for the most part on the municipal level: municipal governments run their own services rather than there being a federal service that covers the whole nation. The exceptions are parts of the country which are under federal jurisdiction such as military bases and various aboriginal or indigenous communities. Consequently, the organisational structure of each service may be different in each municipality. Within each province or territory, a fire commissioner reports to the provincial government and serves as advisor and technical expert.
At the national level however, the fire service organises and unites. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs (CAFC) is an independent, voluntary association that brings together approximately 3,500 of these local fire departments through two mechanisms. The mechanism is through individual departmental leadership, irrespective of whether the department is large urban, small rural, volunteer, career or composite. The CAFC’s National Advisory Council which is composed of all the national affiliate organisations as well as the provincial and territorial fire chief associations, including representation from the Canadian Council of Fire Commissioners and Fire Marshals. The sector has a strong culture of collaboration.
Shape and size of the fire service workforce
Latest figures show an estimate of approximately 152,650 firefighters in Canada, serving a population of 35.5 million people, 1 firefighter for every 233 members of the population. Of these firefighters, approximately 83% were volunteers. The majority of the career firefighters work in areas that protect over 50,000 people, with most of the volunteer firefighters working in areas protecting fewer than 50,000 people. The largest firefighter union in Canada is currently the International Association of Firefighters.
In total, there is an estimated 3,672 fire departments in Canada. Of these, 66 (2%) have all career firefighters.
Any changes to the structure of the fire service and discussion of reform
Any change to the organisational structure of the Canadian fire service, especially a move towards a service run at the national level, would likely encounter two key difficulties. The first is due to expectations of how different levels of the Canadian government should interact. Federal, provincial and municipal governments hold distinct roles that are ultimately grounded in the country’s Constitution. Therefore, suggestions of a change in the organisational structure of the fire service face the immediate issue of disentangling jurisdictional responsibilities that are well-established.
The second difficulty is related to Canada’s very low population density. With a population so sparsely distributed, questions would immediately arise as to how a nationally run service could be as attuned to local requirements as one run at the municipal level.
As a consequence of these difficulties there is likely very little motivation for organisational reform at the national level and there have been no significant structural changes in the Canadian fire service recently.
The federal government has more recently become quite active in the many areas relevant to the fire service: from mental health to interoperability, heavy urban search and rescue, wildfires to building codes to transportation. Recent disasters in the areas of rail safety and extreme weather events to (e.g. the Lac-Mégantic rail disaster and wildfires) have prompted discussions on what the proper roles of each level of government ought to be in these cases. These discussions often focus on the nature of a national response within the existing framework, such as what the chain of command ought to be and how resources can be most effectively organised from different municipal departments. Increasingly however, the discussion is moving towards the national role that the country’s fire departments play particularly in light of the high reliance on volunteer departments. The Canadian Association of Fire Chiefs has been on the record for a national fire advisor secretariat to maximally coordinate the development and impact of the many important initiatives that various federal departments are involved.
Case Study 3: Netherlands
Demographic information
Netherlands is a country located mostly in Western Europe with a population of 17.2 million. Together with three island territories in the Caribbean (Bonaire, Sint Eustatius and Saba), it forms a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The European portion of the Netherlands consists of twelve provinces and borders Germany to the east, Belgium to the south, and the North Sea to the northwest, sharing maritime borders in the North Sea with Belgium, the United Kingdom, and Germany.
'Netherlands' literally means 'lower countries', referring to its low land and flat geography, with only about 50% of its land exceeding 1 metre above sea level.
Further, the Netherlands has a long history of social tolerance and is generally regarded as a liberal country, having legalised abortion, prostitution, and euthanasia, while maintaining a progressive drug policy.
Structural organisation of the fire service
A law introduced in 2011 mandated that there be 25 fire service ‘regions’ in the Netherlands. Each region is comprised of approximately 20 to 30 communities that pay for their fire service. The activities of the fire brigades, e.g. purchasing of equipment and training of firefighters, are all done at this regional level.
Each fire service region has a political board, responsible for policy choices and financial decisions. This board is made up of mayors from each of the participating communities in the region.
At the national level, there is the Netherlands Fire Service that works together on issues such as fire safety education, incident control and professional competence. This is a voluntary organisation led by the twenty-five senior Fire Chiefs from each region.
Shape and size of the fire service workforce
Latest figures for the Netherlands show that the total number of firefighters is 28,214. Of these, 5,212 are career firefighters, 19,106 are volunteers and 3,896 are support staff. Given that the population of the Netherlands is 17.2 million people, this means there is one firefighter for every 610 residents.
Brief history of fire service structural reform
When reform took place
Regionalisation, the grouping of 400-450 local Fire Services into 25 fire service regions, was a structural change that occurred between 2004 and 2014. Different areas enacted this change at different speeds, with some becoming regionalised at a much faster pace than others. After 2011, it became law that these fire service regions should be in place, which provided impetus for those areas that were further behind in the process.
Why reform occurred
The roots of the reform are in two fire disasters, one in Volendam and the other in Enschede between 2000 and 2001. It was recognised that municipalities were often too small to respond to all types of major incidents in an effective way and greater co-ordination was needed between services.
Main aims of reform
The main aim of the reform was to improve the regional response to emergencies and their crisis management, and consequently create a more professional and effective service.
The intention is that, within the regions, the fire service, police, medical and municipal services can work together to provide a co-ordinated and effective response to emergencies like the ones at Volendam and Enschede.
Where they are on reform journey
Regionalisation took place between 2004 and 2014. Having successfully grouped hundreds of individual fire departments into 25 fire service regions, the Netherlands are now at the end of their reform journey.
Case Study 4: West Midlands, England
Demographic information
The West Midlands is a metropolitan county in western central England, with a population of approximately 2.89 million people. After Greater London, it is the most populous county in Britain. It consists of seven metropolitan boroughs (City of Birmingham, City of Coventry, City of Wolverhampton, Dudley, Sandwell, Solihull and Walsall).
The West Midlands covers a total area of 902 km2, is landlocked and borders the counties of Staffordshire to the north and west, Worcestershire to the south and Warwickshire to the east. The county contains a mix of heavily urbanised areas such as Birmingham and Wolverhampton, as well as a large stretch of green belt known as the “Meriden Gap”. The West Midlands is a multicultural area, with 29.9% of the population identifying as Black or Minority Ethnic at the 2011 Census.
Structural organisation of the fire service
There are 38 fire stations across the West Midlands, which are under the ultimate command of the Chief Fire Officer and the Strategic Enabling Team (SET). They oversee the organisational structure of the service and its strategic direction.
These 38 stations are in turn divided into Command Areas, with 5 Ops Commanders and 3 Area Commanders assisting the Chief Fire Officer. Underneath the Area Commanders are Group, Station, Watch and Crew Commanders, then the Firefighters themselves.
The West Midlands Fire and Rescue Authority scrutinise the SET to ensure it is performing its duties correctly and providing taxpayers with good value for money. This body is made up of twenty-seven elected councillors from across the West Midlands.
Shape and size of the fire service workforce
The West Midlands Fire Service employs approximately 1,900 staff across 38 fire stations. Alongside London and Greater Manchester, West Midlands is one of the only fire services in Britain whose firefighters all work full time. Covering a population of 2.89 million people, there is approximately one firefighter for every 1,521 residents of the West Midlands.
Reform to the role of the firefighter: discussions of reform, aims of reform and stumbling blocks
Over the previous decade, there have been discussions around how the role of a firefighter has changed given that there are fewer fires than in the past and that the West Midlands operates a full-time fire service.
This led to the introduction of a modified contract for new entrants to the West Midlands Fire Service that stipulated that their role now included prevention, protection, response and wider health work. The contract also outlined that firefighters would be responsible for falls response, that is if someone had fallen over it would be part of their role to go out, help them and signpost them to medical services if necessary. The aim of this reform was to recognise that the role of a firefighter has changed and make this explicit to new entrants.
This reform provoked opposition from the Fire Brigades Union, who balloted for strike action and lodged a trade dispute with the Fire Service. This opposition was grounded in objections to the level of remuneration offered in light of the expansion of responsibilities outlined in the modified contract. A resolution has not currently been found and as such the modified contracts have been withdrawn. The opposition of unions to the planned reform proved to be a major stumbling block.
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