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Tuesday 20
May
16.30
hours
Avon Fire & Rescue Service is close to hitting
new targets set out by the department for Communities and Local
Government (CLG) when it comes to recruiting
firefighters.
In January the service started a new recruitment
drive and is pleased to announce that the top 23 people of
the 895 who applied have been offered a place on the latest
training school, which will start this
summer.
Of the top 23, 20 are men (one of these is from the
BME community) and three are women.
New targets announced by the CLG state that 15
percent of all new recruits need to be female and three
percent need to be from BME groups. This means AF&RS has
hit its BME target, with 4.3 percent, and only just missed
achieving its target for female recruits, with 13
percent.
Avon Fire & Rescue Service Chief Fire Officer /
Chief Executive Kevin Pearson said: “We are delighted to be
able to offer these 23 new recruits a place on our
forthcoming training school and look forward to welcoming
them to the service. This is a fantastic achievement for
these 23 recruits when you think about the competition for
posts.
“While we haven’t achieved our target when it comes
to female recruitment, we are certainly heading in the right
direction ensuring our service reflects the community we
serve.
“Although I am delighted that we are close to
achieving our targets this is by no means our main motivation
when it comes to recruitment. We have to employ the best
people for the job who meet the National Firefighter Tests.
In this case, of the 23 best people who passed the rigorous
selection tests, some are from groups that are currently
under-represented across the fire and rescue
service.”
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