Control room

Control staff must maintain highly specialised capabilities in incident call handling, resource mobilisation, multiagency coordination and emergency communications. It is important to maintain an appropriate mix of experienced staff in the control room to ensure continued high performance and manage the impacts of planned retirement of staff. Succession planning is critical as recruitment into control requires a focused attraction strategy due to the specialist skillset.

Non-operational

Robust succession planning needs to be in place for non-operational staff who provide critical professional and technical skills that enable operational and organisational effectiveness.

GFRS will need to maintain capability in areas including:

• data and performance analytics.
• protection and regulatory compliance.
• ICT, digital systems and cyber security.
• project management and transformation,
• finance and procurement,
• people and organisational development,
• health and safety, and
• communications and engagement.

Capacity and resilience

Some departments have small teams where turnover creates significant disruption. The Service must ensure:

• clear succession plans for specialist roles,
• career pathways to retain professional talent,
• resilience models that reduce single points of failure, and
• access to apprenticeships and external training.

GFRS Community Risk Management Plan 2026-2030