DN 15/2022       Date 15/09/2022 

Deputy Chief Fire Officer Appointment

The Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner has decided to appoint Mathew Walker as Deputy Chief Fire Officer of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Background

A full recruitment was launched for Deputy Chief Fire Officer on 11 July with a five week advertisement, closing at 09:00 on 15 August 2022. A rigorous assessment day was held on 14 September 2022 with a stakeholder panel made up of members from North Yorkshire Police, the Local Resilience Forum, Derbyshire Fire and Rescue Service and the York Rescue Boat, and final panel consisting of the Commissioner, the Chief Fire Officer and the Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer. Three candidates were assessed; Mathew Walker was the highest scoring candidate and has been duly appointed.

Mathew Walker joined the Fire and Rescue Service in 2003, serving 13 years in South Yorkshire, performing various roles across the service, before being seconded to National Resilience. There he led the Command-and-Control capability on behalf of Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service as lead authority.  Mathew was involved in several significant national incidents during this time as National Resilience Duty Officer, including the east coast flooding and the Salisbury Novichok attacks.  Mathew then transferred to West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service as Area Manager responsible for Service Assurance and Improvement in 2019.

Decision Record

The Commissioner has decided to appoint Mathew Walker as Deputy Chief Fire Officer of North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service.

Zoë Metcalfe

Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner for North Yorkshire

Statutory Officer Advice

Legal, Management and Equality Implications

The Commissioner’s Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer, having read this report and having considered such information as has been provided at the time of being asked to express this view, is satisfied that this report does not ask the Commissioner to make a decision which would (or would be likely to) give rise to a contravention of the law.

The Commissioner’s Chief Executive and Monitoring Officer has advised that the recruitment process was compliant with the applicable law and confirmed to the Commissioner that he was so satisfied.

Financial and Commercial

The Commissioner’s Chief Finance Officer and S151 Officer has advised that the terms of the proposed appointment are affordable within the PFCC FRA budget.