Firemen score top marks

THE Greater Manchester Fire and Rescue Service has scored top marks in two key performance areas following an assessment.

The service scored top marks in service delivery, meaning that it is well poised to respond to emergencies and prevent fires, according to the assessment by the Audit Commission.

High marks were also achieved in the use of resources category, which covers how well finances are managed.

The service was rated as improving well in the “direction of travel” category, which measures how well it is responding to the challenges of modernisation and gauges the success of community safety initiatives and work to prevent fires happening in the first place.

County Fire Officer Barry Dixon said, “It’s a credit to all our staff that we have been recognised for our work in reducing preventable injuries, accidental house fires and total fires.

“One of the ways we have done this is by reducing the valuable time wasted responding to malicious calls and false alarms and using that time to reduce the impact that fire has on our communities.

“We know there is still much to do. We are determined to continue to promote diversity within our service and to have a work force that reflects the make up of our communities.”

Councillor Paul Shannon, Fire Authority chairman said: “This report recognises that we are achieving our aim of making efficiency savings without compromising service to our public. The people of Greater Manchester have a fire and rescue service they should rightly be proud of.

“We will continue to work closely with the community, businesses and local government to build on our success and ultimately make Greater Manchester even safer.”