Northamptonshire
Fire and Rescue
Service
About this strategy
Northamptonshire Fire & Rescue Service (NFRS) is fully committed to becoming an employer of choice for people from all backgrounds, with a goal of having a workforce that is truly representative of the diverse county that we serve.
At NFRS, there is significant under representation of female, ethnic minority and Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) employees.
Members of some communities do not see the Fire and Rescue Service as a career for them; the reasons are varied and complex. NFRS employees from under-represented groups are minimally and, in some cases, not at all represented at management and leadership levels, indicating barriers to progression.
Using positive action to increase representation within NFRS enables us to recruit from a wider pool of talented, skilled people to create a more forward thinking, inclusive and positive working environment. It helps us to understand the diverse needs of the communities we serve, and this supports NFRS to achieve its statutory requirements.
This Positive Action Strategy & Plan take account of these issues and acknowledges where we want to be and what we want to achieve. As such positive action will contribute to these two overall success outcomes:
- To become an employer of choice for all communities
- To become truly representative of the communities we serve
This strategy and plan, sets out how NFRS will utilise positive action principles to encourage under-represented members of the community and employees to engage with recruitment and promotion activities. This reflects our responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010 and Public Sector Equality Duty.
The strategy supports the Code of Ethics for Fire and Rescue Services in England and underpins the Service’s ability to deliver NFRS’ Equality Diversity and Inclusion and People and Culture Strategies.
The positive action activity in this strategy and plan is time-bound, skills-focused, and developmental. Measures are designed to minimise disadvantage and widen participation, not to exclude others.
CFO, Nikki Watson
If an organisation can show it is under-represented within certain groups in the past 12 months, it is allowed under the Equality Act 2010 to carry out what is known as ‘positive action’ to encourage applications from people in those groups.
Positive action is a range of lawful initiatives to improve equality for people who share a protected characteristic, through reducing disadvantages, meeting the differing needs and increasing participation.
Positive action gives individuals from under-represented groups opportunities to overcome barriers and to compete with others on a level playing field. It supplements the support the Service provides to all staff to reach their full potential, and positions are awarded to the best candidate regardless of whether they fall into a particular group or not.
Positive action uses engagement as a key tool but is best described as targeted outreach with communities and staff from underrepresented backgrounds. Through positive action, underrepresented people can be targeted to encourage them to apply and supported through the process of employment and promotion.
Community engagement in Fire and Rescue Services involves a proactive approach to work with communities to build trust, share information, and collaboratively address local risks, primarily through safety education and advice.
In NFRS there are overall recruitment strategies and processes that apply to all communities and support for all staff; part of these strategies and processes will include mass engagement with all the county’s communities Community Engagement Positive Action Recruitment & Promotion as part of attraction
The strategy is built on five key principles which will enable NFRS to deliver positive action work.
These are:
- Understanding our communities & our staff
- Working with partners, communities & internal stakeholders
- Attract diverse communities into roles in our service
- Create an inclusive recruitment process
- Ensure equity in internal career opportunities for underrepresented employees.
- This plan sets out priority actions for each year of the strategy for the Positive Action Team; the plan is not fixed to allow for flex, adaptation and the introduction of new actions.
- The plan will be reviewed on an annual basis.
- Evaluation of actions/activity will be undertaken at key points e.g. end of a recruitment process. This will inform assessment of outcomes and KPIs.
- Not all activity will be undertaken purely by the Positive Action Team; there will be workstreams where collaboration between PAT and other departments will deliver this activity.
- There are other positive action activities that would not be led by the PA Team that can be considered for inclusion in the plan.
- Annual updates will be provided as activity is largely tied to recruitment and promotion timelines.
- There is a ceiling on how much we can increase representation. We need to understand the pool of people that we can recruit from.
- KPIs measure both PA and recruitment activity – some applicants may become PA candidates but were attracted through mass engagement route.
- We need to understand the interconnectivity of all the processes and forces beyond the control of the PAT and their activities may impact (usually negatively) on a candidate’s experience.
- PA activity must be seen in the context of the wider social and political landscape. E.g. anti DEI rhetoric will have an impact on potential candidates, as well as emboldening challenges to what we are trying to achieve.
