Fears Hartlepool's fire brigade faces 'stormy year' as it faces 'double-whammy' of Brexit and covid

Cleveland Fire Authority Audit and Governance Committee reviewed the corporate risk register it has in place, which details the strategic risks facing the authority in achieving its vision and strategic goals, at its latest meeting.

It was noted by members of the committee Brexit was listed as a potential risk impacting the authority going forward.

Ian Hayton, chief fire officer at Cleveland Fire Brigade, said this comes as Brexit offers ‘unknowns’ for the authority, which could impact them in several ways.

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He said: “Just to give you one of the examples of that. In relation to the fire appliances that we buy, that are clearly critical to the delivery of our services, and we currently are in the procurement process of getting I think seven new fire appliances.

“They do not come from these shores, and therefore in relation to the adverse effects that are referenced, it’s what will be the financial impacts going forward in relation to the procurement of goods and services that we do get from Europe at this time.

“What will be the costs of those going forward, what will be the availability, will there be any restrictions?

“It’s on the register because the reality is it’s unknown and we don’t like unknowns, and until we can quantify those impacts, that’s what that commentary reads within our risk register.”

It came after Cllr Billy Ayre, who represents Redcar and Cleveland Council, said he was ‘intrigued’ why the register noted Brexit may ‘result in an adverse impact on the brigade’s ability to deliver its duties effectively and efficiently.’

Paul McGrath, who sits as one of two independent persons on the committee, said although it is a very comprehensive risk register, the brigade still has to deal with the ‘double whammy’ of Brexit along with the Covid-19 pandemic.

He said: “Obviously the pandemic and the double whammy of Brexit could have a very, very big impact on everything that we’ve put in this risk register.

“I think it’s going to be a stormy year ahead in many ways.

“Probably in future meetings we’ll have revisits of the corporate register because I think this impact is probably not completely known yet and I think there’s going to be big impacts on everything we’ve put in that register.”

Mr Hayton said as part of the risk register they look at operational and corporate risks and how they constantly manage them, acknowledging it is a ‘moving beast’ and any emerging risks will be considered.

He said: “One of the things we’ve always got to guard against is looking at the risks in isolation and just dealing with that one at a time.

“It’s actually looking at it as a composite so what are the effects on the whole of the organisation in relation to not only one risk, but all of them when you put those together.”

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