The fire service’s governing Fire Authority will decide whether to increase its portion of Council Tax by 2.97% next year, at its budget setting meeting this month.

Current indications are that South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue will lose around £700,000 in its Government funding in 2018/19, when compared with 2017/18.

Householders in Band D currently pay £68.96 per year for their Fire and Rescue Service, around £1.33 per week. The decision to increase council tax would raise around £714,000 in annual funding for the fire service- the equivalent of around 20 firefighters.

Fire Authority Members will make their decision on Council Tax at the fire and rescue authority meeting on Monday 19 February.

The fire service has published details of dozens of areas of joint work with the police and other emergency services, to mark a year since a new law came into force.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue (SYFR) has unveiled a list of 30 ways it is working more closely with the region’s 999 services, from training and community safety work, to shared teams, equipment and buildings.

999 Together: 30 ways the fire service has collaborated in South Yorkshire

The Policing & Crime Act 2017 received Royal Assent on 31 January last year, placing a new statutory duty on all three emergency services to look at opportunities to work with one another better to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

The bulk of the collaborative work undertaken by SYFR both before and after the Act came into force involves South Yorkshire Police, although the fire service says it is also working closely with the ambulance service and other local fire and rescue services.

Highlights include a new shared fire and police station in Maltby which went live at the end of last year and a jointly delivered Princes Trust Team Programme, which has helped to transform the lives of more than 120 young people in less than two years.

Other, long standing collaborations include Lifewise, which is an interactive safety centre in Hellaby, Rotherham which has been jointly run by the police and fire services since 2011 to deliver education packages to more than 20,000 local people every year, including nearly every Year 6 pupil in South Yorkshire.

Firefighters also now attend hundreds of ‘medical break-in’ incidents each year. The arrangement sees firefighters provide humanitarian assistance at emergencies where people are thought to be in need of urgent medical attention, but where ambulance service paramedics cannot reach them, for example when they are locked indoors. The work used to be carried out by police officers, so is helping to save thousands of hours of police time each year.

SYFR Deputy Chief Fire Officer Martin Blunden, said: “Whilst there is now a legal duty on all emergency services to work more closely together, for us the real benefits of collaboration with the police, ambulance and other fire services are to the communities we serve. Whilst we still believe each of the emergency services should retain their own unique skills, brand and specialisms, we want to show local people that we are serious about providing them with the most efficient and most effective service possible. That means seeking out opportunities where we can deliver our work better or save money by working alongside our 999 partners.”

Minister of State for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd, said: “The Government has invested over £88million in local blue light collaboration projects since 2013, including in South Yorkshire,  because they present a real opportunity for emergency services to maximise available resources, enhance local resilience and improve the service delivered to the public. I am pleased to hear of the work in South Yorkshire, and look forward to hearing of further collaboration in the future.”

South Yorkshire Police DCC Mark Roberts said: “We have worked closely with our colleagues in South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue for many years now, though this last year has seen our partnership become more formally recognised under the Policing and Crime Act. We are committed to supporting our emergency service colleagues in such a wide range of initiatives and activities with the intention of making South Yorkshire safer for all who live and work here.”

Fire Authority Chair Linda Burgess, said: “The Fire Authority and its members wholeheartedly support the provision of a strong fire and rescue service, which includes pursuing close working with other emergency services where there is a clear benefit to local people. We’re pleased to see the service continuing its strong progress in this area.”

South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, Dr Alan Billings, said: “We have begun to show in South Yorkshire what can be done to improve services to the public by collaborative working. We need to go on from here, with the increased energy and determination, thinking of new and innovative ways in which the Fire and Rescue and Police services in particular can work better together. This is why I, as Police and Crime Commissioner, have become a member of the Fire Authority.”

South Yorkshire’s first joint fire and police station has been officially opened.

The facility in Maltby, Rotherham went operational in October, but was formally opened in front of dignitaries, staff and school children by Her Majesty’s Lord Lieutenant for South Yorkshire Andrew Coombe.

Guests of honour included primary school pupils from Maltby Manor Academy, who had taken part in a drawing competition to reflect the work of the emergency services.

Winner Liana Hatfield had her artwork unveiled as part of the ceremony and the drawing will now be displayed permanently at the site.

Chief Fire Officer James Courtney said: “This new facility is the first of its kind in South Yorkshire and represents the best possible, physical example of our commitment to work more closely with our emergency service partners. By working alongside each other under one roof, we think the move will benefit both organisations by improving how we work together to solve problems we both face, which can only help to improve the quality of the service we offer to local people.”

Fire Authority Chair Cllr Linda Burgess, said: “The Fire Authority has always been clear that collaboration should be about more than badges on buildings and saving money, with local people at the heart of any of the decisions we make. With this in mind, I am pleased to see the completion of the first joint police and fire station in South Yorkshire- not just as a symbol of the joint work the fire service is leading on with the police, but also because of the benefits I expect it to bring to both organisations and the community itself.”

Dr Alan Billings, South Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner said: “The joint fire and police station at Maltby offers a number of positive opportunities for the police and fire services to work together and collaborate. This new cost-effective way of working will allow agencies to share information and work better together. The building will help reduce overheads to both organisations at a time when, the taxpayers want to see their money being spent on the safety of South Yorkshire residents and not on buildings and their running costs.”

South Yorkshire Police Chief Supt Rob Odell said: “I’m delighted to see the official opening of the station and to see members of our community involved in the event. This is a great opportunity for us to share resources, knowledge and expertise with our colleagues in the fire service.”

The project to build the new facility on Byford Road won Government Transformation Funding of £560,000 and means South Yorkshire Police and South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue can share running costs, enabling funding to be targeted at frontline services.

The move has shifted fire service resources around a mile closer to the east side of Rotherham, which traditionally accounts for a greater volume of emergency incidents compared to lower risk areas to the east of Maltby.

It will also improve services by making it easier for police and firefighters to share knowledge, skills and expertise when tackling common issues, like anti-social behaviour and road traffic collisions. In a similar way, it will help both organisations to reach the most vulnerable members of the community.

The Policing & Crime Act 2017 placed a new, statutory duty on all three emergency services to look at opportunities to work with one another better to improve efficiency and effectiveness.

South Yorkshire’s Chief Fire Officer has been awarded the Queen’s Fire Service Medal- the highest award of its kind a serving officer can receive.

James Courtney was named in the Queen’s New Year’s Honours List as one of just a handful of recipients of the medal, which was introduced in May 1954 and is given for meritorious service or bravery.

James joined Merseyside Fire & Rescue in 1990, moving up through the ranks to the position of Group Manager. He served with Her Majesty’s Fire Service Inspectorate working with Integrated Risk Management Planning from November 2005 through to November 2006, when he left to join South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue.

James was promoted from Assistant Chief Fire Officer to Deputy Chief Fire Officer, before being appointed Interim CFO in April 2011. He was appointed Chief Fire Officer on a permanent basis in February 2012.

Chief Fire Officer James Courtney said: “I am delighted to receive this award. It is huge honour and a real surprise. I feel extremely lucky to have enjoyed such a long and successful career in the fire and rescue service- an organisation which does so much good work in our communities. I am particularly proud to serve as Chief Fire Officer in South Yorkshire and to contribute to National Resilience arrangements”.

Fire Authority Chair Cllr Linda Burgess, said: “James has enjoyed a long and distinguished career in the fire and rescue service and I know all members of the fire authority will join me in congratulating him on this significant achievement.”

Minister for Policing and the Fire Service Nick Hurd said: “I would like to thank Chief Fire Officer James Courtney for his dedication and commitment to the fire service, which has seen him lead South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Service through unprecedented periods of change. The Queen’s Fire Service Medal is a symbol of distinguished service and James should be proud of the difference he has made to both the fire service and helping  vulnerable people in South Yorkshire.”

James is currently Chair of the National Fire Chiefs Council National Operational Effectiveness Working Group, placing him at the forefront of efforts to promote and lead the highest standards of operational standards in fire and rescue services.

This role also saw him play a major part in developing a groundbreaking piece of research which looked into Incident Commanders and decision making on the incident ground.

His national strategic role makes him a key player in the English fire service’s response to and recovery from civil emergencies. This is something he replicates at a local level, as chair of the South Yorkshire Local Resilience Forum.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue has signed up to a charter pledging to support employees with terminal illnesses.

After agreeing to sign-up to the TUC’s Dying to Work campaign in October, the fire service officially made the pledge this week.

The campaign is aimed at getting organisations to commit to support their employees should they be diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Martin Blunden, said. “We want to make South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue a great place to work, and part of that is about prioritising the wellbeing of our people. That’s why we believe it is essential that we give each person facing a terminal diagnosis the freedom to decide what is best for them based upon their own, individual situation. I am proud to have signed the Dying to Work Charter to publicly display our commitment to this.”

Neil Carbutt, Fire Brigades Union brigade secretary, said: “Being diagnosed with a terminal illness is something that most of us don’t want to even contemplate. Any one of us could be diagnosed with a terminal illness at any point. South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue has signed this Charter, which is extremely reassuring for us as its employees. The Fire Brigades Union totally support this positive and humanitarian move which will provide individuals and our members the dignity and security they deserve. I would urge all other fire and rescue services to follow suit.”

The Dying to Work campaign would like to see terminal illness recognised as a ‘protected characteristic’ so that an employee with a terminal illness would enjoy a ‘protected period’ where they could not be dismissed as a result of their condition.

More than half a million people in the UK are already covered by the pledge, with big employers like Royal Mail, E-on and Santander amongst those to have signed up nationally.

The pledge was signed by South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue in conjunction with the Fire Brigades Union, but will apply to all members of fire service staff regardless of their union affiliation.

Firefighters from South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue have teamed up with some clever canines to showcase their water rescue skills at Rother Valley Reservoir.

Three Newfoundlands and one Leonberger scent dog from Pete Lewin Newfoundlands charity joined Edlington and Aston Park crews for the training exercise. Firefighters carried out a number of water rescue techniques incorporating the dogs, testing the manoeuvres and skills the dogs have when rescuing people in dangerous water situations.

The specialist training session was created to provide crews with an opportunity to further their knowledge and work with water rescue dogs. It allowed them to see the capabilities that the dogs have and the way that they work, which is something that has never been done before within the service.

Station Manager, Chris Lally said, “Water rescue is a core area in which a select number of our firefighters specialise in. Any opportunity we get to explore new and advanced ways of carrying out this function is always welcomed within the service.

Around 400 people needlessly drown in the UK every year and thousands more suffer injury, some life changing, through near-drowning experiences. It is essential to be aware of the hidden dangers that rivers, lakes and reservoirs can present.”

Pete Lewin, Paramedic and founder of Pete Lewin Newfoundlands, said: “As a small team of like minded people we go all around the country to emergency services shows. We have developed various manoeuvres for getting people out of the water with the dogs. Over the past eight years we have been looking into rescue work with these powerful and amazing animals and have trained with a number of fire and rescue services throughout the country.

We would like to thank South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue for inviting us to Rother Valley and for giving us the opportunity to train with the crews.”

Pete Lewin Newfoundlands is a not-for-profit, voluntary organisation that uses Newfoundland dogs to help promote water safety and deliver water safety workshops to schools and other groups. The dogs are also used for emotional support swims for people suffering with stress related problems.

The Newfoundland dog is traditionally a large, strong breed of working dog. With webbed feet and a very muscular build, they are regularly used for water rescue and lifesaving. The dogs from Pete Lewin Newfoundlands are trained by their owners and used for exercises and training on a voluntary basis. They hope that in the future, these dogs could operate and work alongside agencies involved in search and rescue.

South Yorkshire Fire & Rescue Authority (SYFRA) has appointed a new Assistant Chief Fire Officer following an extensive recruitment process.

Alex Johnson beat off competition from a strong field of candidates to secure the position and brings more than 25 years of fire service experience to the role.

Alex joined Derbyshire Fire & Rescue as a firefighter in 1992, serving at stations across the county during a successful career in which she rose to the rank of Area Manager, leading

the service’s prevention, protection and inclusion work. She’s also worked at the service’s training centre, both as breathing apparatus instructor and Group Manager, and is a fully qualified fire protection officer.

For many years, Alex has been a member of the Executive Committee of Women in the Fire Service, a national network which supports the development of women in the fire sector. She’s also previously been the women’s representative for the Fire Brigades Union in Derbyshire.

Alex said: “I’m really excited to be joining a metropolitan fire service with a reputation as strong as South Yorkshire’s. I look forward to continuing its work in delivering a first class service to the people of South Yorkshire.”

Fire Authority Chair, Cllr Linda Burgess, said: “I would like to congratulate Alex on her appointment. The panel was impressed with Alex’s experience, achievements in Derbyshire, and her vision for the future of our service here in South Yorkshire.”