West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service has vowed to change the face of its force and recruit more female firefighters and ethnic minority staff – but has opted for lower targets than other brigades.

West Yorkshire has 43 ethnic minority full-time firefighters, three retained officers, and 24 other staff – which makes up 3.3 per cent of its 2,092 staff.

By 2013 it has agreed to recruit 18.1 per cent of its new recruits from ethnic minorities – in line with the population rate locally.

Other brigades opted for tougher targets which were two per cent above the ethnic make-up of the particular area.

In addition West Yorkshire has vowed 15 per cent should be women – again lower than average 18 per cent set by the majority of brigades.

Fire Minister Sadiq Khan said: “I want to see a real change in the fire and rescue service in representation and attitudes.

“While the representation of women and minority ethnic groups has improved in recent years, much remains to be done.”

He insisted that encouraging recruits from a wider background was vital in the service’s fire prevention role and could be achieved through encouragement rather than positive discrimination, which is illegal. He said that meant targeting advertising and working in schools.

Mr Khan said that dragging people out of house fires was not the only job for firefighters, and fire prevention was a major part of the job.

The recruitment process will remain the same and recruits will still have to go though the same tests.

Mr Khan said while it was vital to boost the number of female and ethnic minorities firefighters, he ruled out a ban on white men at brigade recruitment days – a tactic employed by Avon last year – which he feared could fuel resentment.

A West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service spokesman said: “We are totally committed to delivering our targets.

“We did not opt for the higher targets as we thought our 18.1 target was very challenging given the economic times, but they will be reviewed every year.

“It is vitally important to meet and understand the needs of our community. We are a diverse county and we need people working in the organisation who understand these needs.”

Independent research that has shown that Fire and Rescue Services which better reflect the diversity of their local population can save lives by being better equipped to reach those most at risk, driving down the number of fires and incidents, increasing the reporting of arson, and helping to ensure that all communities are fully aware of fire safety and what they should do if an incident occurs.

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