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Fire and resilience

Launch of National Leadership Programme

Date of speech	6 November 2007
Location	London

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Transcript of the speech as delivered.

Whilst I am pleased to be here today to launch this important leadership initiative for the Fire and Rescue Service, it is with the terrible and tragic events of the weekend in the forefront of all our minds. Our thoughts and sympathies are with the families of the firefighters who are deceased or went missing in Warwickshire on Friday night. I was there yesterday and saw first hand example of great leadership. I know that the fire and rescue service is a very close community and that everyone here will have been touched by what happened. We will, of course, look to learn any lessons from these events. I think now is a time for grieving and acknowledging these men doing their job - protecting their community.   

Turning to the focus for today's events. Public services deserve excellent leaders. Over the next 10 years the Fire and Rescue Service will face significant new challenges due to political, environmental, economic, social and technological changes. Those challenges are a great demand of clear leadership from within.

We know that the best performing authorities combine strong senior management with a well developed and active role for elected members. We also have first hand knowledge of the transformational qualities of a number of Chief Fire Officers. It is clear that strong, effective leadership, both political and managerial, is key at the strategic level to drive change and also to drive continuous improvement across the board.

Positive progress is being made. But I think we also recognise that there is a more we need to do to make the Fire and Rescue Service a great deal better. 

We should all aspire to see, in the not too distant future, a more unified Service that embraces cultural change and greater diversity. A Service which is efficient and effective and where partnership working through Local Area Agreements and Local Strategic Partnerships is the norm and not an exception. A Service which is rightly recognised as a key resilience player alongside other emergency services.

These aspirations demand effective and appropriate leadership behaviours. Aspire, the new model of leadership, was developed in partnership with the Service. It is based on transformational principles and has the FRS Core Values at its heart. This is important as there is a clear link between effective transformational leadership and culture change. Aspire will raise awareness of the importance of how leaders behave.

The National Leadership Programme supports the drive to embed good equality and diversity practice.  Let me give you four examples:

1. the Leadership Champions Network offers opportunities to focus on key themes, such as ethical leadership, and to share best practice.

2. The personal insights gained through the Aspire Leadership 360 degree questionnaire will provide valuable feedback to individuals on their leadership behaviours.

3.The coaching skills initiative exemplifies best practice communications skills which will help to develop talented people, fostering cultural change and developing leadership styles.

4. The new supervisory manager workbooks on leadership, change and diversity can be used individually and as a group training aid.

7. By working in partnership with Warwick Business School and the National School of Government, the Executive Leadership Programme will be developing the future leaders of a modern Fire and Rescue Service. I am delighted that such a prestigious business school is taking forward this important initiative which will include a "leadership exchange". This means that our future leaders will experience leadership in other sectors; organisational learning that will benefit the whole service.

I am sure that you all aspire to be good leaders yourself, aiming to do great things at local level. A great deal has already been achieved, but there is more for us to do if we are truly to offer a career that will be attractive to talented people. Leadership has to evolve if it is to meet the increasing expectations of those who use the Service.

We need better leadership within the community. We want to see equality and diversity at the heart of fire and rescue service culture. With elected members and staff reflecting the communities they serve, and where people from diverse backgrounds can achieve the highest positions within the service

The Fire and Rescue Service must engage with and understand the needs of the diverse communities it serves. It must plan and deliver its services to take account of those needs. Equality and diversity is therefore central to the effective protection of the public through fire prevention and emergency response. The clear links between transformational leadership and effective organisational change are well documented. In the FRS, progress has been made in recent years, particularly on community engagement, but the workforce remains overwhelmingly white and male. Equality and diversity has yet to be embedded in all areas of the work of the Service.

Facts and figures

Let's consider some facts and figures. Only very small numbers of staff are from minority ethnic backgrounds - 3 per cent compared to a national average of over 12 per cent. Among senior staff this falls to 1 per cent. And very small numbers of women are operational firefighters - just 2.8 per cent, dropping to below 1 per cent for senior positions. 

The evidence also suggests that women and staff from minority ethnic backgrounds are less likely to be promoted. For example, in March last year, 3.8 per cent of the white men in the operational sector of the service were at station manager level compared with only 1 per cent of operational women and 1.9 per cent minority ethnic men. To put it another way, that is 1,628 white men, but only 12 women and 21 BME ethnic staff who had reached this level. What are we going to do about this? In short, we must think and act differently and leadership is central to improving these matters. 

We will soon be consulting on a draft Equality and Diversity Strategy for the Service. This has been developed in close partnership with the Service and aims to deliver a step change, in the way we do things.

Its vision is to create a Service which can demonstrate that it serves all communities equally to the highest standards, building on a closer and more effective relationship with the public and a workforce which reflects the local working population in each area. It is not just about understanding our communities; it is ensuring that our communities feel understood.

The Strategy will require action by Fire and Rescue Authorities, supported by Government, the Local Government Association and other partners. It will focus on a number of priority areas including providing leadership and promoting inclusion.

Bringing talented people in to the organisation and providing them with the opportunity to develop their potential as leaders is vital to the future of the Service. Two excellent ways of achieving this are through high potential development and graduate entry schemes. I know that many Authorities have introduced various forms of high potential schemes with considerable success. In addition London has just embarked on its first graduate entry programme from which the early results in attracting highly capable and motivated candidates from diverse backgrounds seems very promising.

Working with the Service we hope to encourage other Authorities to consider such initiatives. The Fire Service Research and Training Trust has commissioned a research project that will be looking at graduate entry and high potential development schemes. This project will provide proposals for the Service to consider. Taking action in this way will directly support the aims of the Equality and Diversity Strategy which will be coming out for consultation in just a few weeks. 

I trust that you are also aware that a consultation paper on proposals for establishing a Centre of Excellence for the Fire and Rescue Service was published at the end of last month. The proposal, developed jointly by partners, the LGA and CFOA, provides an opportunity for the Fire and Rescue Service to take much greater responsibility and ownership for managing the service and to take a central role in influencing the future direction of the service as a whole. It could also help to build capacity and strengthen leadership at all levels.

I would like to encourage you all to respond to the consultation - because your views on the options proposed on the role, governance and possible funding arrangements of a Centre of Excellence will be vital in our considerations.

Let me conclude by reiterating my support for the work of the Centre for Leadership and the National Leadership Programme. I hope that you make full use of the opportunities that they present and encourage your staff to use them too.

This has been a difficult week for all of us and it is important to take back this message of better Leadership.

Thank you for being here today and the work that you are all committed to doing.