Mark Isherwood
North Wales Assembly Member Mark Isherwood has today welcomed the drop in total incidents and attended call-outs by the Fire and Rescue Service in North Wales, but stressed that a robust joint evaluation of fire safety interventions by the Welsh Government, Fire and Rescue Services and the third sector would help reduce incidents further.
Speaking in the Welsh Government Debate on the Delivery of Fire and Rescue Services in Wales, Mr Isherwood noted that North Wales Fire and Rescue Service report that during the last three years, total incidents and attended call outs have dropped by 15% and total fires have dropped by 12%.
He said in the four year period between 2009-10 and 2012-13, deaths per head in England due to accidental domestic dwelling fires were lower than in all other UK countries, at 3.7 per million population and that the next lowest figure was in Wales, at 4.4 per million.
He said: “At the 2010 Firebrake Wales Conference in Rhyl, which I attended, the charity commended the role of the fire and rescue services in prevention and saving lives, but also stated that thousands of incidents were not reported, that most of those at risk were due to circumstances, conditions, behaviours and lifestyle choices that were overrepresented in the statistics, that we needed to target behaviours as well as conditions and circumstances, and that the people most vulnerable are known to other organisations.
“It called for a robust evaluation of interventions that work between itself, the Welsh Government and fire and rescue services. However, when I asked the Minister last October whether such a robust evaluation had happened, she failed to answer my question. We do not therefore know whether policy is being developed on this basis with third sector expertise.
“Greater collaboration is needed between Mental Health Charities and Drug and Alcohol teams to liaise with other organisations – employment, housing, homeless hostels, Local Authorities and Fire and Rescue Services – sharing responsibility via real partnership between public, private and voluntary sectors to identify and target people at risk and to make Wales a safer place.
“I therefore move amendment 2 which calls for a robust joint evaluation of fire safety interventions by the Welsh Government, Fire and Rescue Services and the third sector.”
Mr Isherwood also moved Amendment 1, which notes the rise in attacks on fire and rescue crews and the impact this has on delivering safer communities.
