Changes planned for Hertfordshire Fire Service to encourage female involvement

Currently, 12% of the county’s firefighters – less than one in eight – are female. And although that’s up from 8% three years ago, the service is still keen to increase it further. At a meeting of the county council on Tuesday, councillors highlighted the success of a fire service taster session for women.

And it emerged that the service is looking at whether to change part of the service’s physical assessment test, in a move that could make the service more accessible to female firefighters. Currently, potential recruits have to pass a shuttle run or bleep test, in which they have to run between two points 20m apart, at a progressively faster rate.

And they have to match a minimum entry level on the test, which is regarded as a test of both fitness and determination, to progress. But the Local Democracy Reporting Service understands that the Hertfordshire fire service- and others – are now looking at alternatives such as treadmill tests, which they say are already used by several other services.

Officials stress that any potential change is not about lowering standards, or having different standards for men and women. They say it is about ensuring that recruitment and fitness arrangements are “evidence-based, job-related and focused on an individual’s ability to perform operational duties”.

The move emerged at the meeting of the full council on Tuesday (July 21) after Cllr Beth Kelly (Labour, Hatfield North) highlighted a fire service taster event that had been targeted at young women – and asked for one to be held in her own area.

In response, executive member for public health and community safety Cllr Ajanta Hilton (Liberal Democrat, St Stephen’s) revealed they were thinking of changing the test.

“We are really keen to make the fire service more diverse,” said Cllr Hilton. “And I am really glad that there are so many different ways that we can approach this.

“So absolutely I’ll be asking for a women’s event coming, because we really do need to address the balance. We are getting better. We have gone from eight to 12% females.

“But we understand that there are a few restrictions; that women don’t see it as a role for them, when it absolutely could and should be.

“We are thinking actually of changing the test, because I know we did the bleep test, which was rather challenging. And we are thinking of changing those tests to make it more accessible and more practical for some females who are worried about that.”

Following the meeting, Cllr Hilton said that the fire service was committed to recruiting “the very best people to serve our communities”.

And she said that there was no suggestion that they would want to lower the fitness standards required. “Hertfordshire Fire and Rescue Service is committed to recruiting the very best people to serve our communities, and we want to ensure that everyone with the potential to become a firefighter feels able to apply,” she said.

“We know that some people can be discouraged from applying because of perceptions about the role or concerns about the recruitment process, and we are working to address those barriers through positive action, engagement events and regular reviews of our recruitment practices.

“I do want to be clear though, that there’s no suggestion that we would want to lower fitness standards. Firefighting is a physically demanding profession, and operational standards must always be maintained.

“What we do want to do is ensure that our assessments are relevant, proportionate, and accurately measure the capabilities required to do the job safely and effectively. If there are opportunities to make the recruitment process more accessible without lowering fitness standards, then it is right that we consider them.

“We are particularly keen to encourage more women to explore a career in the fire service and will continue to support taster events and engagement activities that help people understand what the role involves and build confidence in applying.”