I am absolutely delighted that North Yorkshire Fire Authority is to reverse its policy on the minimum number of officers needed to crew the new Tactical Response Vehicles (TRVs). Following my recent intervention during a meeting with the Chairman of the North Yorkshire Fire Authority, Councillor Andrew Backhouse has instructed officers to prepare a report for the Fire Authority’s December meeting to increase crewing at the Day Crewed Stations (Malton, Northallerton, Ripon and Harrogate) to four. He has said that ‘subject to approval this will be implemented as soon as possible, hopefully as early as April 2018 after new staff have been recruited’. I have been working with local firefighters to bring about this change and am delighted we have been successful because, without four officers in attendance, the requisite number to enter a burning building, I was worried that lives could be lost. In a bid to save money the Fire Authority had recently changed its policy to allow a crew of just two or three firemen on the vehicle. This meant they had to wait for backup before going inside, putting lives at risk. I congratulate Councillor Blackhouse for listening to the arguments and acting swiftly and I am convinced that this decision will not only save lives, but make the fire service safer for everyone.